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Putin to attend meeting of Accounts Chamber board

The formation of the Accounts Chamber as a fiscal control body accountable to the parliament started after the adoption of the 1993 Constitution, but the agency started full-fledged operation in 1995

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend on Wednesday an expanded board meeting of the Accounts Chamber. The Kremlin press service said the event will be dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the chamber’s foundation.

The formation of the Accounts Chamber as a fiscal control body accountable to the parliament started after the adoption of the 1993 Constitution, but the agency started full-fledged operation in 1995 (its 20th anniversary was marked on January 14).

During the first months of operation, the new agency conducted auditing of the federal budget fulfilment, exposing violations worth several trillion rubles (non-redenominated).

Then the scope of activities of the auditing agency continued to expand. In 2013, the powers of the Accounts Chamber were significantly expanded — it was also charged with the task to audit government programs, conduct expert examination of draft laws, international treaties and strategic planning documents. The fiscal control body was also given the right to put forward proposals on improving the budget legislation and on the development of the country’s financial system. In 2014, the Chamber also got the right to check the effectiveness of the use of state funds by non-state pension funds and health insurance organizations.

Over 20 years of operation, the Russian Accounts Chamber has conducted about 9,000 audits in which it exposed violations to the tune of 4.6 trillion rubles; more than 1,700 criminal cases were opened on the agency’s materials.

The first chairman of the Accounts Chamber at that time was member of the State Duma lower house of parliament deputy Khachim Karmokov. In 2000, he was succeeded by former Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin who headed the Chamber for the next 13 years. Since September 2013, former minister and presidential aide Tatiana Golikova heads the Accounts Chamber.