Riga, December 17, LETA. The State Audit Office (SAO) has not gained confidence that the funding of Latvian science in the amount of more than 82.5 million euros has been directed to the most promising research in accordance with the goal – to promote the growth of the Latvian economy, the SAO was informed by LETA.
The purpose of the audit of the State Audit Office was to assess whether and how the recommendations provided in the 2012 audit of the Ministry of Education and Science were successfully implemented in order to significantly improve the implementation of Latvian science policy.
According to the SAO, in the opinion of the auditors, not enough has been done to eliminate the problems and shortcomings identified almost ten years ago both in relation to the approach of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) in setting priorities in science and in controlling the use of funding – and monitoring their implementation, for which the Latvian Science Council (LZP) is largely responsible.
“In almost a decade, an effective and sustainable system for evaluating research projects, allocating funding and controlling it has not been established – mistakes must be acknowledged and the existing system must be changed,” the SAO said in a statement.
Although the available state budget funding for the development of science in Latvia has increased in recent years, it has been low for a long time compared to other European Union countries. It is very important that it is purposefully invested in solving issues and problems important for Latvia by supporting basic and applied research projects (FLPP) and state research programs (PPP) with the highest scientific quality, notes the SAO.
According to the auditors, the number of priority research areas is too wide – it includes at least 150 topics, which is not adequately limited.
In the opinion of the SAO, after the 2012 audit, the Ministry of Education and Science has improved several areas important for the development of science. Also, according to the international assessment of scientific institutions conducted in 2019, progress has been observed in Latvian science since 2013. However, the violations and discrepancies identified in the audit now indicate that everything planned has failed and the MES has not done enough to eliminate the previously identified deficiencies.
In the opinion of the auditors, the set priorities of the research directions for 2018-2021 are too broad, lose any efficiency and do not fulfill their task – to focus the work of Latvian scientists, persons involved in scientific work and scientific institutions on solving the most important issues for Latvia’s sustainability and development.
“Despite the resources invested, including € 14,000 per study, the research priorities for FLPP funding are not effective. Other factors have provided the necessary focus on research areas with the greatest development and development potential: the procedure for distribution of funding specified in the regulations, “the SAO reports.
The “most unpleasant conclusion” was that the SAO failed to eliminate the previously identified problems in the organization of scientific expertise of projects so that it would take place in accordance with the requirements of regulatory enactments. The audit found inadequate use and management of the LZP information system, which affects more than 100 projects, signs of conflict of interest, etc. 25% of PPP “Latvia’s heritage and future challenges for national sustainability”, PPP “Energy” and PPP “Covid-19 mitigation” are also insufficiently monitored. “indirect costs of almost € 1.9 million for the projects allocated.
The auditors consider that this shows that the LZP has so far failed to ensure the proper functioning of the management and control system for research funding in order to avoid the slightest hesitation over the allocation of limited funds and careful evaluation and further use of research project results.
“There is no doubt that the development of science requires adequate funding, but it is just as important or even more important to ensure a fair and transparent system for approving, evaluating and monitoring research projects. If we want globally competitive Latvian science, we must acknowledge prevented, “stressed Inese Kalvāne, a member of the State Audit Office.
“This audit also identified irregularities and significant inconsistencies in the organization and implementation of the scientific expertise of FLPP and PPP projects in the period from 2018 to 2021. This naturally calls into question the validity of the decisions taken during this period to allocate € 82.5 million to PPP and FLPP projects and “We pointed out possible inconsistencies and shortcomings in the use of financial resources allocated for the implementation of PPP projects – monitoring and control,” Kalvāne continued.
The State Audit Office has approached the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Latvia, the State Revenue Service and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau regarding possible violations of regulatory enactments and further examination of the established facts.
The Ministry of Education and Science has been provided with specific recommendations to comply with the requirements of regulatory enactments, to identify and eliminate procedural deficiencies in a timely manner and to use state budget funding accordingly.
In order to implement the recommendations, the control environment and monitoring measures need to be improved without delay by organizing scientific examinations of FLPP and PPP projects: an open selection process of experts should be ensured, i.e. sk. the justification for the decision to attract a foreign expert must be traceable, the SAO considers.
The SAO urges to improve the internal control systems of the LZP information system for user management, i. sk. develop procedures for user rights management, as well as improve the user authentication mechanism for access to LZP information systems, providing for automatic control of changing the originally issued password, regular password change, excluding the possibility of password repetition.
The Ministry of Education and Science should evaluate the responsibility of LZP employees for the violations identified in the audit in the organization and provision of scientific expertise processes, according to the SAO.
In the view of the auditors, in general, the MES should reconsider its approach to setting priorities for scientific directions in order to focus state budget funding on addressing issues important for Latvia’s sustainability and development. The State Audit Office also calls for the improvement of the control environment and monitoring measures in order to plan, implement PPP projects and use funding in accordance with the law. Also, the MES in co-operation with the Latvian Council of Science and the Ministry of Economics should evaluate the possibility of making adjustments to the cost items of PPP projects in order to repay financing that is not necessary to the state budget.
As part of the audit, the State Audit Office also received proposals for improving the selection of scientific projects (FLPP and PPP) from more than 200 foreign experts who participated in the evaluation of project applications submitted by Latvian scientists. They are also included in the audit report. The Ministry of Education and Science is committed to implementing the recommendations of the State Audit Office by mid-2022.
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