Ministry of Regional Development fails to implement the allocated funds from Operational Programme Technical Assistance
Press Release – March 18, 2013
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) performed an audit of EU funds, which had been utilized from 2007 to 2012 for implementation of the Operational Programme Technical Assistance. The Programme aims at improving management and coordination of other programmes funded from EU. The SAO performed the audit at the Ministry of Regional Development, which manages the Programme’s implementation, and at the Centre for Regional Development, which was responsible for particular projects’ accepting, evaluation, and supervision. Auditors selected and scrutinized seven projects worth CKZ 390.5 million.
In 2007, the Ministry of Regional Development opted for an improper indicator to evaluate the Programme’s achievements. The SAO points out that the Ministry lacks an appropriate indicator, which would allow for an assessment whether the funds were utilized effectively and economically. With some of the projects, the Centre for Regional Development wrongly applied one of the subject criteria when performing the evaluation of the projects’ eligibility.
The Ministry of Regional Development manages the Programme’s implementation and receives the granted funds as well. With one project, the Ministry noticed a contract worth CZK 300 million. The contract was aimed at covering all goals of the project. However, the Ministry prepared the award procedure poorly and fell behind the schedule. In the end, the award procedure was set aside. In the frame of the aforesaid project, the Ministry awarded two other public contracts. One of them included a purchase of a tutorial for EU grant aid recipients. The tutorial was not intended for nearly 50 % of the actual attendees.
Within the frame of the Operational Programme Technical Assistance, the Ministry of Finance approved projects worth CZK 1,300 million by October 2012, which represents 22.8 % of the total investment earmarked for the Programme. The SAO warns that the Ministry of Regional Development may fail to absorb funds allocated for the Program before the end of the programming period 2007–2013. As a result, the Czech Republic will not receive the earmarked funds. Already in 2011, the Ministry had to transfer CZK 1,500 million from the allocation of the OP Technical Assistance to other programmes, which had been working much better. With regard to the above mentioned risks, the Ministry is currently considering similar proceedings.
For further details about the auditing operation No. 12/13 (in Czech only), see the following link: http://www.nku.cz/assets/media/informace-12-13.pdf (pdf 384 kB).
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office