The system of external public and municipal audit in the Russian Federation has three levels (federal, regional and municipal levels) resulting from the federal structure of the country.
Federal Level
The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation is a supreme audit institution established in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The tasks of the Accounts Chamber include organization and monitoring of the proper and effective use of federal budget funds and public resources as well as auditing the feasibility and efficiency of achieving strategic goals of social and economic development of the Russian Federation.
SAI Russia also carries out public audit of local government bodies within the competence established by the law. For example, it checks inter-budget transfers and budget loans from the federal budget, including financial support for the implementation of infrastructure projects.
Regional and Municipal Levels
89 Control and Accounts Authorities of the constituent entities and
Control and Accounts Authority of the Federal Territory Sirius are formed and accountable to the legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and representative body of the Federal Territory.
Control and Accounts Authorities of municipalities are formed and accountable to the representative bodies of municipalities.
Audit Institutions have organizational and functional autonomy and carry out their activities independently. The activities of the audit bodies are based on the principles of legality, objectivity, efficiency, independence, openness
and transparency.
The powers, composition and regulations of the Regional and Municipal Audit Institutions are established accordingly by the Constitutions (charters) and (or) Laws of the subjects of the Russian Federation, Charters of Federal Territories and (or) Regulatory legal acts of representative bodies of Federal territories, Charters of municipal entities and (or) regulatory legal acts of representative bodies of municipal entities.
Audit Institutions are independent in planning and implementing their audit engagements.
Some of the main powers are:
- Control over the legality and efficiency of the use of local budget funds
- Examination of draft laws on local budgets, verification and analysis
of the reliability of their indicators
- Audit of the annual report on the execution of the local budget
- Audit of public procurements
- Assessment of the effectiveness of the formation of state property, management and disposal of such property
- Сontrol over the state of the internal and external public debt of a region, federal territory or municipality
- Assessing the feasibility, risks and results of achieving the goals of socioeconomic development stipulated by the strategic planning documents.
Interaction of the SAI with Regional Audit Institutions (RAIs)
The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation actively interacts with RAIs in bilateral and multilateral formats.
Multilateral cooperation is developing within the framework of Regional Audit Institution Council (RAIC) under the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, whose members are the Chairmen of all RAIs of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and federal territory.
The Council is an advisory body whose activities are aimed at improving the quality and the efficiency of public audit at the regional level. In order to ensure the continuity of its activities, the Council has formed permanent working bodies: Presidium, six commissions on current areas of activity, eight branches in federal districts. The activities of the Council and the Presidium of the Council are ensured by the Department for International and Regional Cooperation of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
The working bodies of the Council summarize the best audit practices.
About 30 analytical materials are prepared annually. Seminars, meetings and round tables are held in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Powers of SAI Russia regarding interaction with Control and Accounts Authorities are:
- Concluding cooperation agreements
- Interacting on issues of planning and implementation of joint and parallel audits in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities
- Rendering organizational, legal, informational, methodological, and other assistance
- Assisting in professional training and capacity building of RAIs employees
- Upon request assessing (analyzing) the activities of the Control and Accounts Authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, federal territories and municipalities, providing its opinion on whether such authorities' activities are compliant with the legislation on public audit and recommendations to improve their effectiveness
- Upon request providing its opinion on whether the nominee chairpersons of the Control and Accounts Authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and federal territory are compliant with the requirements established by Federal Law
- Developing and approving the general requirements to the standards of public audit for audits conducted by the Control and Accounts Authorities. Upon request, assessing compliance with requirements.
Within the framework of multilateral cooperation, special attention is paid to the organization and implementation of joint and parallel audit and non-audit (expert-analytical engagements) activities. 16 were held in 2023.
In 2014 SAI Russia launched a web-portal for Control and Accounts Authorities of all levels. This is a unique platform designed to interact between public audit institutions, share knowledge and collaborate on projects and researches. The Portal provides different functions: holding videoconferences, electronic document management, knowledge base, personal accounts, database, news. In 2023, over 5,900 materials were published at the platform.
To strengthen professional cooperation, the Concept of interaction between
SAI Russia and RAIs was developed. Seven priorities were identified:
- Conducting joint audits
- Convergence of methodological approaches
- Development of professional competencies
- Creation of a unified digital environment
- Improving interaction with Regional Audit Institutions
- Promoting transparency and openness
Professional ethics and anti-corruption.
