The Accounts Chamber did not live up to the expectations of Kursk officials

Yesterday, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation released information about violations in the use of funds allocated to support the agro-industrial complex and environmental protection measures in the Kursk region. As auditors found, almost 1 billion rubles of government money was used in violation of the law. The results of the audit caused confusion among local officials. Deputy head of the regional committee of the agrarian and industrial complex Zinaida Chernykh said that when leaving Kursk, the auditors made it clear that they had found nothing. And the head of the environmental management department, Valery Anastasov, forwarded the auditors’ claims to federal structures that control most of the natural resources. The Commission of the Accounts Chamber of Russia, headed by Alexander Nazarov, worked in the region in February - March. During the audit, the activities of 17 enterprises, organizations and management bodies of the agro-industrial complex, as well as five organizations and management bodies of the environmental complex of the Kursk region were checked and analyzed. The auditors found that funds from the federal and regional budgets and state property in the amount of 995.8 million rubles were used with violations, of which federal budget funds amounted to 426 million rubles, and regional budget funds amounted to 121.7 million.

According to the Accounts Chamber, the volume of agricultural production in the region in 2004 in current prices doubled compared to 2000, but in comparable prices the growth in production was only 19% (4% per year). The dynamics of development of livestock farming is negative; the profitability of sold agricultural products in 2003 was 2.2%, which is six times lower than in 2000.

As a result of the audit, it turned out that since 2000, the allocations of the consolidated budget of the Kursk region for the environmental complex have increased by 2.4 times. However, despite the increase in centralized funding, the volume of environmental protection measures carried out does not increase, which ultimately leads to increased pressure on the environment. The work provided for by the program to improve soil fertility has not been completed in full. As a result, the lost profit from their failure to comply, judging by the auditors’ conclusion, amounts to 26.6 million rubles per year.

Kursk officials greeted information about the results of the inspection with bewilderment. In their opinion, the auditors of the Accounts Chamber did not work entirely objectively. “This is the first time I’ve heard from you about violations in my department,” Valery Anastasov, head of the regional department of environmental management and geology, told a Kommersant correspondent. - We had auditors working for us, I provided them with all the necessary papers, and they did not express any complaints. The chairman of the regional government, Alexander Zubarev, flew to the session of the Accounts Chamber, where the results were announced, but upon his return, he did not talk to me about any violations.”

According to Mr. Anastasov, the Accounts Chamber’s claims can largely be addressed to federal structures, since they control most of the region’s natural resources. The regions, according to him, are ready to account for every ruble spent, especially since not so many were allocated last year. For the needs of the environmental complex - about 50 million rubles.

The deputy chairman of the regional committee of the agrarian and industrial complex, Zinaida Chernykh, learned about the results of the audit of the Accounts Chamber from a Kommersant correspondent and also did not hide her surprise. Yesterday morning, going to a meeting with the chairman of the regional government, she said that she was ready to comment on the figures announced. However, upon returning from the meeting, already in the afternoon, the degree of her awareness changed. “When leaving Kursk, the auditors left us a paper saying that the audit did not reveal any violations,” admitted Zinaida Chernykh. - I can’t imagine what could have changed in a month and a half. Now all verification documents have been sent to Kursk via FAPSI channels. When we get acquainted with them, perhaps we will be able to give a more reasoned comment.”

MAXIM AREPEV, Kursk

Kommersant (Voronezh) No. 72 from 04/22/2005

Themes:

Agriculture of the Black Earth Region

The regional treasury was disturbed by an audit