Delay in appointing new Audit Office members will prevent adoption of budget

If Parliament does not name the new members of the Audit Office until the lawmakers’ vacation, the national budget will be in difficulty in autumn, the institution’s head Serafim Urecheanu has told Info-Prim Neo. The Audit Office has seven members. The terms in office of five of them expired. “If the legislative body goes on vacation before appointing them, we will encounter problems in autumn as the budget cannot be adopted without the Audit Office’s report,” said Serafim Urecheanu. Currently, the Audit Office does not have a quorum and cannot take decision. However, Serafim Urecheanu said the institution is functional. “Five new members are yet to be designated. We cannot take decisions, but our auditors work and prepare the materials. The absence of the other members does not affect our work, but they should be appointed as soon as possible,” said the institution’s head. The MPs will be on vacation from the beginning of August. The Audit Office has 150 employees and is the only public authority that monitors the formation, management and use of public finances and the administration of public patrimony by external audits in the public sector. Serafim Urecheanu was named head of the Audit Office on April 21 this year.