On the 26th of May the PEM PAL Internal Audit international workshop began its work in Yalta. During four days auditors from 18 countries and also representatives of International financial organizations – SIGMA – OECD, the Netherlands Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, InWEnt – will consider problems of internal audit within the framework of the Public Internal Financial Control system reformation.

The Secretariat of PEM PAL – the Public Expenditure Management Peer-Assisted Learning network and the Main Control and Revision Office of Ukraine became organizers and initiators of the workshop. The choice of the place of holding of this plenary workshop of the Community is completely justified. Under the decision of participants of the last year’s workshop Ukraine as the full member of the Community was recognized as a country which achieved certain success concerning introduction of public internal financial control.

Chairman of the MainCRO of Ukraine on the right of the host-party opened the workshop. He thanked to all participants of the workshop, in particular, emphasized that it is a great honour for the MainCRO of Ukraine to conduct the 7^th PEM PAL Internal Audit workshop in Ukraine. For any country participation in such meetings is the unique case to exchange experience of introduction and functioning of the PIFC system. In the opinion of Petro Andreyev matters of the agenda are actual for all participants, “because the efficient, effective system of internal control and audit is the guarantee of stability of both separate fields and economic situation in all”.

Representatives of InWEnt – Judith Hoffmann, of the World Bank on Armenia and Georgia Arman Vatyan and PEM PAL Chief Audit Executive – Tomislav Mičetić applied to participants of the workshop with speech of welcome.

After acquainting with the agenda and choosing of the format of the work participants of the workshop started the work. In particular, the report of Tomislav Mičetić about the activity of IA COP from the last time of the workshop in Yerevan was listened. Participants of the workshop, especially novices, deeply considered the essence of the work and last achievements of the Community. Special trainings and presentations helped to reach common understanding of what PEM PAL means for many persons and how to cooperate with it and what resources are needed for further advance.

After this participants of the workshop began to consider the problem, actually, for the sake of which they met. Management of the transition to internal audit and coupled tasks with this found lively response from countries-participants in transition. Short description of the problem of the transition in every country was accompanied with the stormy discussion. Almost all were unanimous in the opinion that the most detailed analysis of unfavourable factors is necessary for the more successful implementation of suggestions concerning the transition to internal audit.

The previous meetings of PEM PAL were conducted in Slovenia (2006), Moldova (2007), Turkey (2008), Armenia (2009) and again in Slovenia (2009) on determined tasks. The purpose of the 7^th workshop is to bring together leading government officials in internal audit from European and Central Asian countries to share their experiences with their peers and other internal audit professionals.

   Therefore at the request of country-members – Tajikistan, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania, USA, Serbia, Kyrgyz Republic, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, Turkey – specific topics will be discussed during the workshop. In particular, organization of work of internal audit and inspection units, relations of internal audit with external audit institutions, transition to the new Internal Audit Model. During the workshop especial attention will be paid to issues of the Ukrainian audit development. Besides the format for the majority of discussions will be concrete case studies, that undoubtedly will foster to exchange of the experience. In addition to sharing knowledge, the intention of the workshop is also to further strengthen the Community of Practice for the internal auditors as a part of the PEM PAL Program.

As Chairman of the MainCRO of Ukraine Petro Andreyev pointed out the workshop has a great importance for introduction of the PIFC system in Ukraine and for further support of reformation of this system by the European Community. The task of the Ukrainian Party is to present current state of the PIFC development and to outline directions of the further reformation which are supported by the Government of Ukraine and, in particular, by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the MainCRO of Ukraine.

Reference:    

PEM PAL was initiated in 2005 to respond to need to enhance domestic capacity in public expenditure and financial management, through peer-learning and exchanges of the experience. Ukraine is a full member of this community.

       Community has several innovative features and also interesting challenges.    PEM PAL represents a regional approach with involving of significant quantity of countries in shared efforts to improve the work with public expenditures.

PEM PAL are supported by the World Bank, the Organization of the Economical Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Ministry of the Great Britain on the International Cooperation (DFID), the US Treasury, SECO, GTZ, and “International Further Training and Development” (InWEnt, Germany). The PEM PAL Secretariat is under the responsibility of the Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For today three communities of practice of PEM PAL for budgeting, treasury, and internal audit have been formed, bringing together specialists at the most senior levels in these specific fields.  

  

Press-service of the in Yalta  KRU in the AR of Crimea