TIRANA, June 26- The General Directorate of Harmonization of Public Internal Financial Control at the Ministry of Finance and Economy made an audit report of the central government for 2018. In the analysis prepared for reporting to the Assembly, the government audited in the line ministries are characterized with high risk the system of procurement, purchasing and investment; the asset management system; the system of concessions, auctions and property management; and the financial management and control system.
The system of concessions and their administration especially was considered one of the four highest risks that are creating economic damage to the state budget. The key findings in the concession and auctions system are evidenced in the non-monitoring of the implementation of concession contracts that are in the construction phase or have entered the exploitation phase.
Also, there was a lack of monitoring in the sector’s activity of technical opposition and non-compliance with the terms of agreements regarding the financial guarantees of the hydrocarbon deals.
Government auditors reported that there is a lack of written procedures related to the risk identification process which are mainly related to corruption or fraud. This causes management to not engage in dealing with them, and consequently the internal controls in different work processes are not risk-based. They assessed that there is a considerable lack of coordination and communication regarding achievement of performance targets and performance indicators between the supreme institutions and their dependency units, which can be improved through the organization of joint training of these public units, provide a more consolidated and comprehensive information. The government report also said that concessionary contracts in force are not being monitored.
