Serbia’s State Audit Institution (DRI) has approved the 2024 budget with reservations, citing incomplete financial reporting and discrepancies in accounting. Consolidated financial statements lacked full information from budget users, preventing auditors from confirming the value of Serbia’s non-financial assets, which were based on reports from the Republic Property Directorate.
Key findings include:
- Unrecorded receivables from unpaid taxes, non-tax revenues, and proceeds from asset sales. Cash flow adjustments were also incorrectly calculated. At least 320.3 million dinars from borrowing and financial asset sales were not recorded, while 32.3 million dinars were overstated.
- Expenses for other grants and transfers were overstated by at least 123.4 million dinars. Short-term receivables and liabilities were understated by at least 455.3 million and 2.3 billion dinars, respectively.
- Revenues were underreported by 2.8 million dinars and expenses by 10.4 million dinars.
The report notes heavy use of the budget reserve, with 248 allocations published in the Official Gazette, nearly matching the number of working days. Of the planned 8 billion dinars, 7.94 billion was allocated, with some deviations above or below planned amounts.
Auditors highlighted irregular reporting on foreign loans, noting at least 320.3 million dinars in program and project loans were unrecorded, and 32.3 million dinars overstated in the Treasury ledger.
Specific ministries also showed issues:
- Ministry of Interior overstated equipment values by 224 million dinars due to accounting errors and failed to collect 129 million dinars in receivables or return 264 million dinars in advance payments.
- Ministry of Education underreported school revenues by 2.8 million dinars and misreported expenses for maintenance and repairs.
- Ministry of Labor over-allocated 84.7 million dinars for specialized services and misclassified transfers for reconstruction and memorials.
- Institute for Nature Protection failed to properly record assets, including the Vikend House – Vila Milica (2 million dinars) and a flat on Akrobate Aleksića Street 21A, leading to discrepancies between public property records and actual use.
The DRI’s report underscores ongoing challenges in financial reporting, asset management, and transparency in Serbia’s public sector.
