The Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic stands with Ukraine and suspends all cooperation with the supreme audit institutions of Russia and Belarus
Press Release 1. 3. 2022, updated 7. 3. 2022
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) expresses its deepest sympathies and support to the Ukrainian people and stands with them in their struggle for freedom. “We have suspended all cooperation with the supreme audit institutions of the Russian Federation and Belarus with immediate effect,” stated SAO President Miloslav Kala.
The SAO cancelled the participation of its representatives in an INTOSAI international conference organised by the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the representatives of SAI Russia and SAI Belarus have been removed from the list of participants invited to the EUROSAI Prague Post-Congress Get-Together which is organised by the SAO and is going to take place in May in Prague. This event will bring together the representatives of EUROSAI member SAIs; the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic is currently the Chair of EUROSAI, an organisation which groups together 51 supreme audit institutions of Europe.
The SAO has also offered assistance to its Ukrainian counterparts and friends. The colleagues from the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, who are fleeing from the war zone, have been offered accommodation at the SAO training centre. “We have prepared seventy beds for them, a fully staffed canteen with a kitchen, a computer room enabling communication with relatives in their home country, but also, for example, classrooms, a playground and a gym for the children,” said President Kala. Volunteers from the SAO staff are prepared to assist refugees in any way, be it communication with Czech authorities, or visits to the doctor’s office or help with child care.
In its capacity as EUROSAI Presidency, the SAO is addressing the conflict in Ukraine on an international level as well. On Thursday 3 March 2022, the President of the SAO and President of EUROSAI, Mr Miloslav Kala convened an extraordinary meeting of the EUROSAI Governing Board.
At its extraordinary meeting, the EUROSAI Governing Board condemned acts of violence against the Ukraine by Russia and Belarus. The EUROSAI GB agreed upon suspension of all cooperation with the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus and called INTOSAI to consider the suspension of the holding of office of INTOSAI Presidency of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office