Accounting Chamber for the first time conducted audit of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine. According to the results of the inspection, the financial and budget statements of VACS for the year 2024 generally reliably reflect its financial condition, results of operations and flow of funds. At the same time, the auditors pointed out a number of shortcomings related to the internal control system, accounting of collateral funds and fixed assets.
The audit covered the assets of VAKS in the amount of almost 3.9 billion hryvnias and cash expenses of more than 352 million hryvnias. As established, the court formed the reporting in accordance with the national accounting standards in the public sector, as well as the current regulatory and legal acts that regulate the preparation of financial and budget reporting.
However, the audit revealed that the accounting of bail funds received on the basis of court procedural decisions is currently insufficiently regulated. In particular, more than UAH 3.6 billion stored in court deposit accounts are simultaneously reflected as monetary assets and as current liabilities. This practice complies with the Procedure for the Application of the Chart of Accounts in the Public Sector, but contradicts the norms of other legislative acts, which indicates the presence of a systemic problem.
A violation in the accounting of fixed assets was also established: the amount of depreciation was overestimated by UAH 353.8 thousand, and assets in the amount of UAH 2.4 million were classified incorrectly. In addition, the auditors noted that internal control in the part of inventory, its documentation, as well as accounting and preservation of property needs significant improvement.
Particular attention was paid to the use of VAX software “IS-pro” for the preparation of reports. Due to the lack of proper configuration, this system does not ensure the correct automated generation of financial documents. As a result, reporting is done manually in Excel format, which increases the likelihood of errors.
“Confidence in the administration of justice by this institution depends on the quality of the work of the VAKS not only as a judicial institution, but also as a state authority. The Accounting Chamber is the only external auditor in accordance with the law, which can audit the VAKS. Instead, other anti-corruption bodies have separate statutory audit bodies. Therefore, this is an important and responsible role for us.” – concluded Kyrylo Klymenko, who is responsible for the audit and is a member of the Accounting Chamber.
