The President of the Council of the State Audit Institution (DRI) Radoslav Sretenovic briefed the Committee members of the innovations introduced by the DRI this year, emphasising that it had for the first time done an audit of financial reports and business dealings of the political parties.

He presented the report on the audits conducted in 2015, stating that the DRI had completed 174 audit reports covering financial reports, compliance reports and audits of expediency. He announced that DRI is to complete two new expediency audits – on the justifiability of the establishment of commissions and other bodies in the Republic of Serbia and the audit of expediency of the personal income of budget beneficiaries. The DRI also audited 73 subjects, as well as the annual statement of accounts of the budget of the Republic of Serbia, and the financial reports of three political parties. The DRI gave 23 positive opinions, 130 qualified opinions, 147 opinions of compliance, as well as two negative opinions and one abstention. The data covered by the financial reports exceed two billion RSD, as well as income and expenditure in excess of 1.9 billion RSD. Most of the subjects had no internal control system, and these list unrealistic debts by tax and customs duties payers. The DRI noted irregularities concerning the execution of the budget in local self-governments. Sretenovic presented the audit effects divided in three groups – measures in the course of the audit, measures after the report was submitted and measures according to previous years’ reports. The President of the DRI Council said that according to its findings in 21 subjects the DRI had filed 83 misdemeanour charges, one charge of corporate offence and 12 criminal charges.

In the ensuing debate the Committee members commended the DRI Report, the rising number of audited subjects, and the application of new operating standards compliant with European and global practice. They stressed that the DRI had become one of the leading institutions of its kind in the region. The debate also touched on the position of the DRI in the system, its work, the Committee’s support, amendments to the legislative framework, etc.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Veroljub Arsic and was attended by Committee members and deputy members Olivera Pesic, Dalibor Radicevic, Goran Mladenovic, Radmilo Kostic, Zoran Bojanic, Dusica Nikolic, Momo Colakovic, Milos Tosanic, Vladimir Marinkovic and Dejan Radenkovic.