At the sitting held on 12 February, the members of the Finance Committee considered the Initiative to amend and modify the Law on the State Audit Institution, submitted by the State Audit Institution.

The sitting was attended by the SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic and associates and representatives of the Ministry of Finance.

At the beginning of the sitting, the Finance Committee Chairman repeated that the initiative to amend the Law on SAI is a realisation of the conclusion adopted at the Finance Committee’s 43^rd sitting.

Presenting the initiative to amend the existing Law, the SAI Council President Radoslav Sretenovic stressed that the preparation of the Draft Law amending and modifying the Law on SAI was based on a detailed analysis and the Finance Committee’s conclusion, with the goal of ensuring the appropriate conditions for SAI’s work i.e. to improve the auditors’ material position which would enable the employment of new staff, as well as improve the quality of the institution’s work. He expressed belief that the Committee would consider the initiative and forward it to the National Assembly to be adopted under urgent procedure.

In the discussion on the proposed initiative to amend and modify the Law on SAI, the Committee members stressed that it was necessary to accept the modifications, that the submitters of the modifications should be deputies of the position and opposition deputy groups in the National Assembly, and that SAI should be protected form various attacks that might lead to a devaluation of their first financial audit report on the year end financial statement of the Republic of Serbia Budget. It was estimated that the Committee should have a clear position regarding the SAI’s reports and not analyse its work additionally thus influencing the independence of the institution. The Committee was also informed that the Republic of Serbia Budget should secure additional 25 million RSD worth of funds by the middle of the year, for the amendment of the Law.

Following the discussion, the Committee members agreed to request information from the Ministry of Finance on the funds necessary for the amendment of the Law on SAI, to remind the National Assembly Speaker of the Conclusion adopted by the Finance Committee at the 43^rd sitting - to discuss the SAI’s financial audit report on the year end financial statement of the Republic of Serbia Budget at a National Assembly sitting, as well as to have the proposed modifications to the Law on SAI formulated into a proposal at the next Committee sitting.

For the remainder of the sitting the Committee members discussed future activities noting that 21 bills from the Committees purview are in assembly procedure, as well as the need to repeat one of the Committee’s conclusions from 2009 – on the Ministry of Finance submitting a budget execution report to the Committee, so that the Committee would have the information necessary for its work in 2010.

The sitting was chaired by Zoran Krasic, Committee Chairman.