TALLINN, 8 July 2004 - The State Audit Office audited the implementation of a national programme "Integration in the Estonian Society in 2000-2007" and the utilisation of funds allocated to sub-programmes.
The institutions audited were the Bureau of the Minister of Population Affairs, the Minister of Cultural Affairs and the Foundation Integration of Non-Estonians.
The programme is funded from the state budget and foreign aid. In 2003, FINE received 45.7 million kroons for specific purposes in 2003, (incl. 8.0 million kroons allocated from the state budget). The Ministry of Cultural Affairs received 2.4 million kroons from the state budget.
The audit revealed that the payment of subsidies was well organised. The number of projects rejected by FINE was remarkable (approximately one third of the total number), but the audit confirmed the fact that the projects rejected did not meet the requirements. Measures for the management of risks related to project funding worked.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs provided activity support to cultural associations and societies of the minority nations. The state supported all the potential beneficiaries having applied for support; as a rule, none of the applicants was allocated the specific amount applied for. This means that the cultural societies did not receive the financing based on the consideration for their needs (the amount applied for was twice as big as paid).
The integration programme is managed by a Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of Population Affairs, being also accountable for the implementation of the programme and, once a year, submitting an implementation report to the Government.
For further development of the allocation of integration support the State Audit Office recommended the Minister of Population Affairs to develop cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for the further development of socio-economic integration and to develop criteria for the provision of activity support (basic funding) to the cultural association to assure equal treatment of all the potential beneficiaries. The Minister of Population Affairs assured that the composition of the programme’s Steering Committee shall be changed, including the appointment of the representative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications shall be appointed to the committee. New principles for the provision of activity support to cultural associations are currently being under elaboration and these shall apply to the allocation of support in 2005.
Audit report and related answers of the Minister of Population Affairs and FINE are available at the website of the State Audit office: www.riigikontroll.ee.
Sven Soiver
Press Representative of State Audit Office
Telephone: (372) 640 0787
GSM: (372) 53 414464
E-mail: [email protected]
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Posted:
7/8/2004 12:00 AM
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Last Update:
10/1/2015 10:48 AM
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Last Review:
10/1/2015 10:48 AM