Utilisation of the Hungarian SAO’s Work in the Light of Auditing Public Procurements

Abstract

In the last two years, the State Audit Office of Hungary has played a major role in uncovering irregularities in public procurements. 30-40 per cent of the public procurement legal remedy cases were initiated on the basis of recommendations provided by the office. As an audit organisation and the initiator of public procurement legal remedy proceedings, the SAO has an insight into the reasons of irregularities. The basis for good public procurement can and must be created by observing the relevant legal regulations regarding the internal control system. Whether public procurement procedures are conducted in the required manner depends on keeping appropriate records, collecting the right data in a targeted way as well as making thorough preparations. If a given organisation does not provide all the sufficient and required information or the information is not available on site, there is a very high risk of irregularities to occur. These risks can be reduced through the effective control of public finances – especially through the internal control system.