In St. Petersburg, the Chamber of Control and Accounts teamed up with the prosecutor’s office in the field of hunting for dishonest officials, civil servants and municipalities. Not only excessive markups on government contracts were revealed, but also ineffective use of budget funds.

Prosecutor’s ambush

There is a new trend in the Northern capital. The Chamber of Control and Accounts entered into an agreement with the city prosecutor’s office, thanks to which the search for violations by officials reached a new level. The head of the St. Petersburg KSP talks about this, Konstantin Zheludkov told in the hall of the Mariinsky Palace, speaking to deputies of the Legislative Assembly. Throughout the past year, all the movements of civil servants were examined literally under a magnifying glass, and not a single violation went unattended, and all those who stumbled were punished. In other words, now all the papers on inspections and audits go straight to the desks of prosecutors, and there they are studied in detail for “sins”. It must be said that such a system of close cooperation between the supervisory authority and the audit department is being practiced for the first time in St. Petersburg. The head of the auditors is very pleased with this, which he stated to parliamentarians in his address.

“I thank my colleagues for the legal assessment and detailed study of our materials, and their constructive position in taking prosecutorial response measures.”– said the chairman of the PCB.

What and where public money is spent is now checked quarterly. In the reports on the results of inspections, according to Konstantin Zheludkov, the slightest violations are recorded, which are revealed by the Chamber of Control and Accounts, and then “measures” are developed, that is, plans for the prosecution of officials who have erred (departmental, administrative and criminal). The results of all procedures are presented not only to the prosecutor, but also to the Control Department of the Governor’s Administration.

In 2023, for example, KSP calculated that the overestimation of expenses for improvement when concluding government contracts in the city is 325%!

As the head of the department stated, such insane extra markups relate, first of all, to landscaping work, installation of small architectural forms, arrangement of paths, children’s and sports grounds. Zheludkov did not tell the deputies about specific cases of who and where allowed themselves to squander budget funds in this way, but added that there were quite a few of them.

Our information:

For 2023, the Chamber of Control and Accounts of St. Petersburg inspected the activities of 113 objects, of which 39 state bodies, 28 local governments, 31 state institutions, 6 organizations, and 9 municipal institutions. In total, more than 10 thousand violations.

The treasury wants a refund

Due to changing trends, today the assessment of the work of the PCB has also changed. If earlier the indicator was the amount of work done, now it is the elimination of violations. Well, the main result is the return of funds to the budget and compliance with financial discipline. It is no secret that close cooperation with the prosecutor’s office has greatly added to the PCB’s political weight in the city. “They made some noise,” they say on the sidelines. However, Zheludkov himself did not fail to directly announce this to the deputies:

“The position of the Chamber every year becomes more authoritative and significant for all institutions of civil society. We consider ourselves, first of all, an instrument of parliamentary control.”

The results of various inspections provide generous food for the prosecutor’s response. Thus, today the supervisory authority has opened and is considering 25 cases of administrative offenses committed by officials. 220 (!) officials were brought to disciplinary and other liability for the following violations:

– for improper performance of official duties

– actions resulting in violations of the law

– ineffective use of budget funds

– inefficient use of state property

For this year, PCB has a huge number of plans. First, an external audit of the budget reporting of the main managers of the budget funds of St. Petersburg, the main administrators of the budget revenues of St. Petersburg and the main administrators of the sources of financing the budget deficit of St. Petersburg. Among the most interesting future inspections, one can note the operational analysis (monitoring) and assessment of the execution of the budget of St. Petersburg, the budget of the Territorial Compulsory Health Insurance Fund and the budgets of intra-city municipalities. The chamber also plans to monitor how regional and national projects will be implemented. To put it more simply, how the money allocated by the state is used. It’s no secret that theft from national projects is very big and good. Don’t be shy.

The targeted investment program of St. Petersburg and the indicators of the budgets of municipalities will also be subject to checks.

The dynamics of unfinished construction projects will be carefully studied, and most importantly, a very large audit is coming on the procurement of goods, works, and services to meet state and municipal needs.

As they say on the sidelines, the times when chairs were purchased at wild prices and luxurious banquets were thrown are over. “Now government agencies will charge you for every pencil you buy,” say knowledgeable people. According to the plan, the first to fall under the distribution will be: Kirovsky, Kronstadtsky, Moskovsky and Frunzensky districts of St. Petersburg. The institution of justices of the peace will also be unlucky.

KSP plans to carry out control measures and check how the violations and shortcomings identified by the chamber were eliminated as part of a joint audit with the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country). They will check how the magistrates corrected everything that was found as a result of the check, code-named: “Analysis and assessment of the costs of financing and logistical support for the activities of magistrates in 2012-2017.”

Around IIIn the quarter of 2024, such landmark institutions as the “Center for Information Support of Urban Planning Activities” and the Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture will begin to check. The Baltic House Theater Festival and the Culture Committee will also be audited. Among the committees that will be examined, the Committee on Industrial Policy, Innovation and Trade of St. Petersburg and the non-profit organization “Foundation for Assistance in Lending to Small and Medium Businesses” are also noted. The results, as we have already written, will immediately appear on the desk of the city prosecutor Viktor Melnik, and as they say, new criminal cases and arrests cannot be ruled out.