State Control Service to supervise state budget execution 

ArmInfo.  The function of control over the execution of the state budget of Armenia by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia will be assigned to the State Control Service of the Republic of Armenia under the Prime Minister. 

The draft amendments to the Law "On the State Control Service" and a  package of related laws are being discussed at the plenary session of  the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on April 18 in the  first reading.

According to the head of the Service Romanos Petrosyan, if the  legislative act is adopted, the unit implementing this function will  be removed from the structure of the Ministry of Finance of the  Republic of Armenia. The implementation of this function will be  carried out by a new specialized unit created specifically for these  purposes within the State Control Service - the Financial and Budget  Control Department. According to the speaker, these amendments will  make the process of control over the state budget more effective.

The package specifies the procedure for exercising the powers of the  service and the introduction of two main oversight instruments:  investigations and monitoring, each of which will have clear legal  instruments.

According to the current law, the Service, within the framework of  state control and within the limits of its authority, conducts  inspections in bodies that are not structures of the state  administration system, solely for the purpose of monitoring the  legality of the management of state funds. The new draft excludes  these bodies from the scope of the supervisory powers of the State  Control Service. Thus, the entire volume of control instruments  implemented by the Service will concern only state administration  bodies and institutions subordinate to them. The Prime Minister's  office is also considered as a supervised object in terms of  monitoring the legality of the management of state funds. The offices  of regional governors are also considered as an object of  supervision.

In accordance with the current legislation, the Service conducts  research in local government bodies to assess the reliability of  information used as a basis for the provision of state funds.  According to the new regulation, the Service employees will also  monitor the legality of the management of financial resources  provided to communities from the state budget. This will concern  exclusively the legality of the management of these resources.  According to Petrosyan, the authority to manage these resources,  including their expenditure, as well as control over their use, are  exclusively within the competence of local government bodies.

Within the scope of the Service's powers, in the context of  supervising compliance with the requirements of legislation governing  procurement processes in institutions subordinate to the public  administration system, there will also be ongoing monitoring of  public procurement processes carried out in institutions subordinate  to local government bodies in order to control their compliance with  current legislation. These functions will be carried out solely for  the purpose of monitoring legality, without violating the autonomy of  local government bodies.

The following envisaged regulation concerns legislative guarantees to  prevent obstruction of activities in the exercise of the Service's  supervisory powers. The draft also regulates the procedure for  obtaining and processing individual confidential data that are  strictly necessary for the normal and effective functioning of the  structure.