According to the Audit Chamber's press release, this proposal was voiced by Nikolai Tabachkov, a Chamber's auditor, at a meeting with representatives of the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) in Luxemburg.
To quote Nikolai Tabachkov, "in implementing the TACIS program in Russia, more attention should be given to our country's specifics."
According to the press release, Nikolai Tabachkov told his EUROSAI colleagues about preliminary results of the Audit Chamber's probe into the implementation of the nine TACIS projects related to the development of the labor markets, the reform of the auditing system in Russia, support for the development of small business, the fight against money laundering and other issues.
The results of the audit will be discussed by the Audit Chamber's board this fall.
The Russian auditor also said that by the end of 2005 the Audit Chamber should draft a respective analytical report. The results of the Audit Chamber's probes into the TACIS program will be submitted to both chambers of the Russian Federation's Federal Assembly [i.e., the Federation Council and the State Duma], the government and the economic development and trade ministry.
In turn, the European auditors are planning to examine the results of the audits on the implementation of the TACIS program in Russia in summer/autumn of 2005 and publish them at the beginning of 2006, the press release reads.
The TACIS program was worked out by the European Union for the former republics of the USSR (except Georgia and the Baltic countries) to promote the development of economic and political contacts between the EU and the CIS countries. In 1994, Mongolia also became a TACIS partner country.
The priority projects financed by TACIS are related, in particular, to the reorganization of state enterprises and the private sector's development, the creation of an effective system for food production, processing and distribution, the development of the energy, transport and communications infrastructures, nuclear safety, nature conservation, the reform of the state management system, social security and education.
Annually, the European Union earmarks about 150 million euros for Russia within the framework of the TACIS program.
