The Audit Chamber has referred the Agency for State and financial inspection /ADFI/ for cases of non-compliance with laws and other regulations in the preparation of the annual financial statements of two ministries and departments and 34 municipalities.
One central department and 6 other municipalities have been handed over to the prosecutor's office for the established illegal collection or spending of budget or other public funds, BNT reports.
Audit reports are also sent to other authorities for information or to take appropriate actions. These are the Ministry of Finance – for two central departments and for 116 municipalities, the National Revenue Agency – for one municipality, Municipal Councils – for 9 municipalities, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria – for 35 municipalities.
Incorrect reporting in the amount of BGN 6.73 billion has been corrected in the financial statements of budget organizations /ministries, departments, state higher education institutions and municipalities/ as a result of the financial audits carried out by the Audit Office in 2023.< /strong>
This is almost 2.5 times more than the previous year, when during the audits of the Audit Chamber, incorrect reporting for BGN 2.75 billion was corrected. There are a total of 333 audit reports on the performed financial audits of the annual financial statements of budget organizations for 2022 - 16% more than the previous year.
If no corrections were made, the Audit Chamber would have expressed a negative opinion on the financial statements of 90 budget organizations and a qualified opinion on the financial statements of 40 budget organizations. After the adjustments, negative opinions decreased by 88% and unmodified opinions increased by 34%.
As a result of the corrections, the number of financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial status, financial results of the activity and cash flows of the individual budgetary organizations has increased significantly, the audit authority points out. The most significant change is observed in the municipalities.
During financial audits, auditors also identify errors and irregularities that remain uncorrected in the financial statements. That is why audit reports have been sent to relevant bodies of competence.