While auditing Ukraine’s National Public Broadcasting Company (PBC) on the subject of expenses relating to the preparation for and conduct of the Eurovision song contest in Kyiv, the State Audit Service of Ukraine recovered Hr 2.1 million of misspent funds, prevented an illegal spending of Hr 2.8 million, and established Hr 8.6 million in illegal spending and underpayment to the Public Broadcasting Company. The current exchange rate is $1/Hr 26.53.
The auditors managed to prevent an illegal spending of Hr 2.8 million after finding that contractors overstated the volume of “services provided” they have yet to provide, which are not yet on the company’s books and have not yet been paid for, the State Audit Service said in a press release on Oct. 20.
“[We] have also established instances of illegal spending and underpayment to the broadcasting company of a total of Hr 8.6 million, and irregularities in bookkeeping and during tendering procedures to the tune of Hr 468.7 million,” the auditors said.
Furthermore, counter-checks conducted among the contractors found no proof of the information they stated during tendering process. This led auditors to conclude that, not having the capabilities to provide contractual services, some of the chosen contractors used sub-contractors for a lower price, and so on.
A total of Hr 2.1 million of misspent funds were recovered during the audit.
“It should be noted that half the money spent (Hr 250 million out of Hr 522 million) was sent to foreign companies that are practically unverifiable,” the State Audit Service said.
The results of the audit were reported to the Ukrainian government and broadcasting regulator, the service said.
“The audit documentation has been sent to law enforcement authorities for a proper assessment of the actions of certain Public Broadcasting Company officials who were responsible for the organizing and conduct of the Eurovision 2017 song contest,” the State Audit Service said.
