The State Financial Inspectorate of Ukraine started cooperating with law enforcement agencies in 2011, as a result of which the number of criminal cases opened after checks and audits in 2011 was 20% up compared to 2010, to 1,743, the press service of the inspectorate has said, referring to Head of the State Financial Inspectorate Petro Andreyev.
"On the results of audits, law enforcers drew up protocols on corruption against 133 officials. Over 9,300 fines totaling more than UAH 69.1 million were imposed on those who violated financial and budget discipline," Andreyev said during an extended meeting of the inspectorate’s board.
According to him, last year some 1,200 lawsuits worth a total of UAH 684.3 million were filed in the courts and more than 4,900 civil lawsuits were initiated by prosecution agencies, audited companies or their boards, or state agencies.
"About 30,000 officials were held to account for violations of financial discipline, over 8,000 officials faced disciplinary action, some 2,500 were fined, and 150 officials were dismissed," the head of the inspectorate said.
In addition, Andreyev said that in 2011 the State Financial Inspectorate checked about 12,400 enterprises, companies and organizations.
"This is 2,000 less than in 2010 and almost 3,000 less than in 2009. Due to an instruction of the State Financial Inspectorate dated September 8, 2011 to coordinate the procedure of organization of checks and audits, it is now possible to limit fiscal pressure on companies and restrict the government’s interventions in their activity," Andreyev said.
According to him, the instruction forbids the carrying out of more than one scheduled check per calendar year.
"To reduce the fiscal pressure on companies the management of the State Financial Inspectorate wants to change emphasis from the number of checks to their quality. To do this, the inspectorate plans checks and selects objects for controls from the viewpoint of the evaluation of risks of violations, monitoring of risky operations, media reports, and information from citizens received by the state inspectorate’s hotline," Andreyev said.
