Parliament of Moldova will propose the Accounts Chamber to conduct an external public audit in the field of natural gas.
Its implementation envisages a corresponding bill, the report on which was unanimously approved by the parliamentary commission for control over public finances and will present this document for consideration at the plenary session of the supreme legislative body. According to the draft Law on external public audit in the field of natural gas, the audit will be carried out in relation to the activities of companies and organizations in the field of natural gas in terms of compliance of their activities and financial transactions with legal regulations. The audit of the compliance of costs and capital investments in natural gas commercial companies will be carried out in derogation from the provisions of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Accounts Chamber and the Law on Joint Stock Companies, which stipulates that an audit can be carried out in relation to an organization of public interest and a company in which the share of the state exceeds 50%. Since the state's share in the authorized capital of such enterprises is below 50%, the Accounts Chamber is currently limited in conducting an external public audit. According to the draft Law on external public audit in the field of natural gas, audited entities, regardless of their form of ownership and organizational and legal form, are obliged to allow the presence of auditors of the Accounts Chamber on their territory without restrictions, to provide direct and free access at an appropriate time to digitized information, databases data necessary for the proper performance of the audit mission in accordance with this mandate. The audited entities must ensure the submission of information, data, regulations and necessary documents in the format and within the time period required by the Accounts Chamber. In order to exercise the powers provided for by this law, the Accounts Chamber will have unlimited access to the processing of personal data and information containing commercial secrets. The audit report based on the results of the external public audit, as well as the decision of the Accounts Chamber on the approval of the opinion, must be submitted to the Parliament of Moldova by October 31, 2022. It is assumed that this law will enter into force from the day it is published in Monitorul Oficial (the Official Journal of Moldova). While presenting the bill, the Deputy Chairman of the Public Finance Control Commission Artur Mija explained that the need to empower the Accounts Chamber to conduct audits in gas companies is the importance of this area for the country's economy and the welfare of citizens. The MP stressed that for 30 years Moldova has not conducted a public external audit in this area. Tatiana Cunetschi, Chairperson of the Public Finance Control Commission, drew attention to the resources required by the Accounts Chamber to conduct an external public audit in the field of natural gas, while noting the importance of continuing audit missions in other organizations. // 08.12.2021 – InfoMarket
