№ 1 (61)/2003

SUMMARY

IV Conference of the Association of the Russian Federation auditing institutions (3-5 December, 2002). Materials
(pp. 3-21)

Report of the Chairman of the Association of the Russian Federation auditing institutions, Chairman of the Chamber of Accounts of the Russian Federation Sergei V. Stepashin. Resolution of the IV Conference of the Association of Russian Federation auditing institutions. Declaration of performance principles of Russian Federation auditing institutions.

Sergei Ryabukhin
(p. 22)

Audit of the use of federal budget funds allocated to the budget of the closed administrative-territorial entity (ZATO) Seversk of the Tomsk Region in 2001 and the reported period of 2002 for finding expenditures that are not secured by own financial resources:

The audit of the activities made by ZATO Seversk of the Tomsk Region in disbursement of federal budget funds showed as follows:

• organization of the budget system and budget process in ZATO Seversk does not comply with the Budget Code of the Russian Federation;
• financial aid was provided from budget funds to the institutions funded by budgets of other levels;
• subventions from the federal budget for capital investments were used for purposes other than those projected.

The report contains examples of the budget and tax legislation violations.

Sergei Shokhin
(p. 45)

Report on the results of auditing the composition of external debt obligations of the Russian Federation to the Paris Club members.

The audit detected as follows:

• the total sum of the debt owed by the Russian Federation to Paris Club members was USD 42.56 bn on 1 January 2002, including the new Russian debt - USD 6.26 bn and the former USSR debt - USD 36.3 bn;
• since 1993 the Russian arrears in respect of the former USSR debt have been restructured five times within the framework of multilateral negotiations with the Paris Club. On 1 January 2002, the amount of the restructured arrears in respect of the former USSR debt amounted to 82 % of the total Russian Federation debt to the Paris Club members, or USD 34.86;
• external debt repayment in hard currency to the Paris Club members amounted to USD 19.077 bn in 1996-2001, including payments for the principal debt - USD 8.781 bn and interest payments - USD 10.296. USD 9.994 bn of the total amount of payments was used in the said period for repayment and servicing of the former USSR external debt, i.e. 52.13 % of the total amount of payments;
• the total sum of annual payments for servicing and repayment of the Russian Federation debt to the Paris Club members (without loans granted after 1 January 1992) in 2002-2020 in accordance with the Schedule of payments is equal to USD 55.5 bn (on 1 January 2002), USD 54.9 bn of which is the consolidated debt of the former USSR including USD 35.5 bn of the principal debt payments and USD 19.4 - of interest payments.

Yuri Voronin
(p. 65)

Report on the results of auditing the targeted and efficient use of funds from the federal budget and extra-budgetary sources allocated for funding the Federal Target Program "Culture of Russia (2001-2005)" in the part of government investments in the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Objects of the audit: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, objects of construction and restoration in the Republic of Karelia, Solovetsk state historical and architectural museum and natural reserve (Archangelsk Region) and other organizations - federal budget spending units.

The audit detected as follows:

• in violation of the Resolution of the Russian Federation Government № 955 of 14 December 2000 "On Approval of the Federal Target Program "Culture of Russia (2001-2005)" the Ministry of Culture did not set up the Administration for the operating management of the Federal Target Program "Culture of Russia (2001-2005)";
• exceeding its authority the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation concludes agreements with constituent members of the Russian Federation transferring customer functions of organizing and building objects of culture;
• 56 objects stipulated in the Federal Target Program "Culture of Russia (2001-2005)" were built and reconstructed for the federal budget funds in the absence of the required documentation prescribed by current legislation;
• the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation notified the Russian Ministry of Culture of the limits of state capital investments with a delay throughout the whole financial year.

Vladimir Panskov
(p. 75)

Results of the thematic audit of the proper use of federal budget funds for funding the performance of regional tax authorities in the Department of the Russian Federation Ministry of Taxes and Dues of the Saratov Region.

The audit of the tax authorities' performance in the Saratov Region showed as follows:

• for maintenance of regional tax authorities were funded by the Ministry of Taxes and Dues of the Russian Federation with significant violations of the Russian Federation Budget Code provisions. Indicators of the federal budget apportionment and limits of budget obligations were notified to the Department with a delay in 2001-2002, often after the expiration of their validity;
• when disbursing the funds the Department violated the current legislation and used the federal budget funds and off-budget funds for purposes other than those prescribed.

Vladimir Panskov
(p. 89)

Results of the thematic audit of the organization of work done by regional authorities of the Russian Federation Ministry of Taxes and Dues and Treasury authorities of the Russian Federation Finance Ministry on the collection of federal budget revenues set by federal budget laws for 2001 and 2002 in compliance with the requirements of the Russian Federation Tax Code and Budget Code in the Orel Region for 2001 and 1-st quarter of 2002.

The report contains information about compliance of regional tax and treasury authorities with the Tax and Budget legislation of the Russian Federation in collecting federal budget revenues on the territory of the Orel Region. It shows economic indicators that characterize the activities of these authorities as well as violations of the Tax and Budget legislation.

Nikolai Loktionov
(p. 104)

The results of auditing the use of funds in 2000-2001 that were allocated from the federal budget and were recorded in the section "International activities" for maintenance of the ministerial staff abroad, agencies, enterprises, settlements of ownership rights abroad as well as proceeds from consular and other legitimate activities of Russian organizations in the Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of Hungary, People's Republic of China, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Mozambique and South African Republic.

The audit showed as follows:

• the rates of placing representative offices of the Russian Federation and employees thereof in foreign states established by the Russian Federation Government's resolution of 21 May 2001 № 400 were not observed;
• there is no real estimate of the Russian property abroad;
• apart from pursuing state trade policy the activities of some part of employees from Russian trade missions included provision of informational, advisory and other assistance to non-state organizations - participants of foreign trade activities;
• representative offices of the federal state unitary enterprise "Goszagransobstvennost" were not legalized on a legal and international basis.

Mikhail Surkov
(p. 120)

Report on the results of auditing the use of federal budget funds allocated for maintenance of sanatoria and health centers of the Russian Federation Interior Ministry including the Medical Department of the Russian Federation Interior Ministry (Moscow), sanatoria "Iskra" (Sochi), "Salyut" (Sochi), "Zheleznovodsk" (Zheleznovodsk), "Elbrus" (Kislovodsk), holiday-home "Yunost" (Anapa).

The audit detected as follows:

• the management of some Russian Federation Interior Ministry's sanatoria did not exercise control over the use of federal property held in the operating control of health centers. Due to this some individuals captured without permission the territory of 1.3 hectares of Interior Ministry's sanatoria "Iskra" and "Salyut" for construction of cottages and dachas. The same sanatoria failed to organize the work on preventing and suppressing the facts of negligence which served as a major reason for inconformity of data contained in the lease contracts with actual quantities. As a result the federal budget received 191.6 thousand rubles less from the lease of the above sanatoria premises;
• the management of the Interior Ministry's sanatorium "Salyut" did not take effective measures to stop the growth of overdue receivables and reduce them; as a result, the overdue debt to the federal budget was 152.0 thousand rubles on June, 30, 2002;
• the Russian Federation Interior Ministry has not defined the exact cost of the Interior employees' stay in sanatoria and health centers;
• the Capital Construction Office of the Stavropol Main Interior Department did not comply with the Russian Federation Government's resolution № 1131 of October, 6, 1999 relating to transferring the 48-apartment building in 32, Gubin Str., Kislovodsk, to the city municipal ownership.

Mikhail Surkov
(p. 138)

Report on the results of auditing the efficiency and target use of federal budget funds allocated in 2001 for maintenance of Russian Federation Federal Tax Police Departments in the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region.

Objects of audit: Department of the Russian Federation Federal Tax Police in the Krasnodar Territory; Department of the Russian Federation Federal Tax Police in the Rostov Region.

The audit detected as follows:

• federal budget funds allocated for maintenance of Russian Federation Federal Tax Police Departments in the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region in 2001 were disbursed in compliance with the adjusted budget appropriations and adjusted estimate of expenditures across functional and economic classifications of the Russian Federation budget expenditures within the adjusted limits of budget obligations. Yet their disbursement across some types of expenditures was not efficient enough;
• apart from federal budget funds the monetary funds from budgets of the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region and local budgets were allocated for maintenance of the Russian Federation Federal Tax Police Departments which is a violation of the Russian Federation Law of 24 June 1993 № 5238-1 "On Federal Tax Police Offices", Article 19, that prescribes maintenance of tax police offices solely through federal budget funds;
• Russian Federation Law of 24 June 1993 № 5238-1 "On Federal Tax Police Offices" has not been brought in line with the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, Article 85;
• the procedures for agreement, distribution and securing of expenditures on the maintenance of federal tax police offices from funds of the federal budget and budgets of Russian Federation constituent members have not been established;
• financial and economic activities of Russian Federation Federal Tax Police Departments in the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region were inspected by the Russian Federation Federal Tax Police with violation of dates prescribed by the Russian Federation Presidential Decree of 25 July 1996 № 1095 "On Measures of State Financial Control in the Russian Federation".

Ivan Dakhov, Sergei Shokhin
(p. 149)

Consolidated report on the results of auditing the legitimacy and efficiency of using federal budget funds allocated to OAO "Rosselkhozbank" in 2000-2001 for ensuring state support and development of the Russian Federation agro-industrial complex, and auditing financial and economic activities of OAO "Rosselkhozbank" in 2000-2001.

The audit showed that the objectives established in setting up OAO "Rosselkhozbank" as a credit organization for providing an efficient system of lending services to the agro-industrial complex and restructuring of OAO "AKB "SBS-AGRO" were not achieved in the full amount.

Ivan Dakhov
(p. 168)

Results of auditing the efficient use of quotas provided to Japan's fishing organizations for catching aquatic bio resources in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation by the State Fishing Committee of the Russian Federation, its representative office in Japan and other subordinate organizations in 2000-2001.

The audit showed as follows:

• when catching aquatic bio resources the Japanese fishermen violate fishing rules of the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation; in order to intensify anti-smuggling measures it would be necessary to develop a plan of joint action on the part of Russian Federation FPS and Russian Federation State Customs Committee that would allow to arrange a quick response to the said violations;
• the proceeds from Japanese firms for the aquatic bio resources caught were not transferred to federal budget revenues in the full amount;
• the necessity to speed up the passing of the Law on Fishing as well as the Russian Federation Government's resolution on coordination of activities of all the entities concerned related to prevention of poaching and illegal supplies of sea products to Japan and other countries.

Ivan Dakhov
(p. 197)

"Efficiency of Inventory and State Cadastral Estimation of Land in the Russian Federation" (analytical note).

The purpose of this paper is to provide further analytical information to the participants of pending audits to be conducted on the targeted and efficient use of federal budget funds and loans granted against the Russian Federation Government's guarantees to the organizations subordinate to the Russian Land Cadastral Department and some constituent members of the Russian Federation. That will allow to ensure proper control over the course of implementing the Federal Target Program "Development of the Automated System of the State Land Cadastre and State Accounting of Real Estate Objects" (2002-2007)".

The texts of the Azerbaijan Republic's Law On the Chamber of Accounts (with amendments and supplements) and Law On Internal Statute of the Chamber of Accounts of the Azerbaijan Republic
(pp. 209-227)