MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The Accounts Chamber of Russia detected irregularities amounting to more than two trln rubles ($22.1 bln) in 2023, Galina Izotova, acting head of Russia’s official state auditor, said in an interview with RTVI.
"The amount of identified irregularities is indeed very high as, according to the year-end 2023 results, they amount to more than two trillion rubles. There are several factors here, and I should probably stipulate from the start that the share of irregularities is indeed on the rise, but expenditures are also rising and the ratio of identified violations to the volume of expenses should change. Nevertheless, incremental growth can be seen and what we’re seeing are primarily irregularities pertaining to violations of budgetary legislation, which in turn stem from incidences of accounting and reporting irregularities," the chief auditor noted.
The Accounts Chamber reported earlier that irregularities identified as at the end of 2022 stood at 885.6 bln rubles ($9.8 bln).
The bulk of identified irregularities were reconciled during audit procedures, Izotova noted. Violations linked to inappropriate or inefficient use of budget funds amount to about 10-20% of the total figure. More than 20 bln rubles ($221.4 mln) was returned to the federal budget over the past year (9 bln rubles, or $99.7 mln in 2022).