“Out of 43 audits conducted by the Chamber of Accounts in 2025, only 6 were performance audits. This means that there has been no increase in the number of performance audits compared to the previous year. It also means that the share of performance audits in the total number of audits was only 14 percent. The low number of performance audits directly affects the quality of control mechanisms.”
Modern.az reports that MP Vugar Bayramov said this during the discussion of the Chamber of Accounts' report on its activities in 2025, which was debated at today's session of the Milli Majlis.
The MP emphasized that one of INTOSAI's main recommendations is to conduct Information Technology audits. However, the Chamber still does not use this type of audit. Yet, the use of this audit could enable the expansion of the scope of control.
“The report notes that pre-auditing is carried out by the Chamber. In this regard, reference is made to the Law on the “Chamber of Accounts” and INTOSAI P 1, Article 2. INTOSAI P 1 is the Lima Declaration and primarily encompasses pre- and post-audits. A review of the Chamber's activity report shows that providing opinions on budget and other related projects is presented as pre-audit, while opinions on execution documents are presented as post-audit. This is a requirement of the aforementioned law, and the Lima Declaration does not characterize these types of opinions as pre- or post-audits. Opinions and audits have different criteria.”
Vugar Bayramov noted that the vast majority of the 43 audits during the reporting period, i.e., 70 percent, were compliance audits. As can be seen, unlike performance and financial audits, compliance audits were given more preference during the reporting period.
“Significant differences are observed between the estimated price and the contract price, especially in competitive tenders. The report submitted by the Chamber indicates that in over 43 percent of competitive procurements, this difference exceeds 20 percent. This is considered an important issue in terms of efficient use of state funds and transparency. This further actualizes the issue of using artificial intelligence in public procurements.”
“As stated in the report, among the violations identified in audit and analytical activities, cases of violation of budget legislation constituted 51.6 percent. In 2024, this figure was 45.1 percent. This means that in 2025, there is an increase in the percentage of budget legislation violations. What are the reasons for this, given that budget legislation is being improved and digitalization is expanding?
Violations of budget legislation were found in 75 percent of the 48 activities (43 audits and 5 analytical activities) carried out by the Chamber of Accounts. Similarly, the number of activities where deficiencies in the management of budget funds were identified is 75 percent. In over 74 percent of the conducted audits, violations of the requirements of legal acts related to public procurements were found. All these factors highlight the need to further strengthen current financial discipline.
“In 2025, the amount of damage to the budget in terms of compliance elements identified through completed audits increased by more than 50 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 170.4 million manats. A 50 percent increase in the amount of damage to the budget within one year further emphasizes the need to strengthen control over preventing cases of diversion of state funds from their intended purpose. At the same time, although the Chamber of Accounts decided to recover 74 percent of the damage calculated for the budget in 2024, this indicator was 60 percent in 2025. This means that for every 100 manats of damage calculated for the budget, a recovery decision was not made for 40 manats. Why are there such difficulties in recovering the damage caused to the budget?” – the MP concluded.