The Academy of Sciences violated own rules for granting subsidies
Press Release – December 23, 2013
The Supreme Audit Office performed an audit at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR) and public research institutes established by the ASCR. Auditors focused on investments in development, maintenance, and purchases of special instruments made within the period from 2008 to 2013. Auditors scrutinized 108 individual construction works and seven purchases of special instruments in the total amount of CZK 578 million.
Within the audited period, the ASCR authorized development investments in the amount of CZK 2,600 million and purchases of special instruments for the total amount of CZK 398 million. The ASCR and research institutions often violated rules for providing grants. Moreover, the rules for granting were not sufficiently defined for some areas.
Individual departments of the ASCR were supposed to prepare strategic conceptions, which would be used during decision-making processes related to authorization of development projects. Auditors revealed that not a single department had elaborated the conceptual documents. Incomplete applications for grants were submitted repeatedly. The Economic Committee of the ASCR has warned about the poor quality of applications since 2007. However, the ASCR authorized some projects in spite the applications were incomplete.
Application assessment processes were not transparent. The ASCR sometimes could not show how the assessments had been done. Applications were assessed and approved by the Economic Committee and the final decisions on granting were made by the Academy Assembly. During the selection processes, formerly approved projects were rejected and other projects were additionally pushed on the agenda. In 2011, the Academy Council rejected 36 out of 90 approved projects and additionally supported other 21 projects.
The departments were supposed to submit final reports, approval decrees, and complete enumerations of actual costs after the construction works (or individual stages) had finished. But as those documents were not presented, the ASCR lacked the information whether the beneficiaries had met conditions for the subsidies’ granting and whether the funds had been utilized economically and efficiently.
Research institutes made errors in public ordering. For example, construction works started before the tender had finished and applicants who did not have the required qualification or did not meet the criteria were not excluded from tenders. Beneficiaries violated the Building Act and did not abide by contractors’ agreements when failed to require penalties for late finishing of constructions. At 15 out of 108 audited construction works, beneficiaries failed to store complete documentations. That is why auditors could not assess whether departments had proceeded in conformity with the Act on Public Contract.
For further details about auditing operation No. 13/06 (in Czech only), see the following link: http://www.nku.cz/assets/media/informace-13-06.pdf (pdf 398 kB).
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office