UAH 29.5 million from the state budget: Accounting Chamber finds violations in Kyiv Cave Monastery
3 January 14:59
The Accounting Chamber has identified shortcomings in the use of state budget funds worth UAH 29.5 million by the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. This is reported by the press service of the Accounting Chamber with reference to the results of the audit of the effectiveness of the use of budget funds provided to the Reserve for the period 2020-2023, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
In particular, the auditors found three facts of inefficient and uneconomical use of budget funds. These are:
- uAH 21.2 million for the payment of allowances to staff, although such a need was not determined
- uAH 500,000 was paid to a senior researcher of the Reserve who was illegally dismissed in 2016 for forced absenteeism
- uAH 7.8 million was allocated for allowances to employees who did not perform creative, museum, or scientific functions.
In total, in the period from 2020 to 2023, the Ministry of Culture allocated UAH 556.4 million to the Conservation Area under four budget programs. At the same time, the Reserve’s funding needs were met by only 51.2%, including 82.3% for current expenses and 9.7% for capital expenses, the Accounting Chamber says. Due to ineffective management decisions, the Reserve did not use and returned UAH 25.2 million to the state budget.
In addition, the Ministry of Culture did not provide sufficient funding for the restoration of monuments.
As of the beginning of 2024, out of 140 monuments registered with the Conservation Area, 38 are in poor condition, and four are in emergency condition, which creates risks of destruction.
Due to underfunding of capital expenditures in 2020-2021 and 2023, the Conservation Area carried out repair and restoration work at only seven sites, spending UAH 29.1 million.
The Ministry of Culture did not ensure the organizational independence of the internal audit unit, which provides for subordination and accountability to the head of the institution. At the same time, the unit was assigned functions unrelated to internal audit tasks.
The auditors found violations in the preparation of the Reserve’s estimates, in particular, improperly substantiated expenditure figures in the amount of UAH 1.9 million.
It is noted that in 2023, the Accounting Chamber analyzed the management of the objects of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” (National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve), which have financial implications for the state budget. Out of 14 recommendations provided under this measure, 8 have not been implemented.
