Poland’s state audit office faces threats to its independence, its ability to properly carry out its functions, and its financial autonomy, an assessment by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) has found.
The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has often been in conflict with the government in recent years. That led its president, Marian Bana艣, to complain to INTOSAI that his office was facing “systemic restrictions on [its] independence”.
He also claimed he personally was facing various forms of “intimidation”, including “attacks” by the state anticorruption agency, which has investigated both Bana艣 and his son.
There are "serious problems with the rule of law" in Poland, state auditor @marian_banas tells us in an exclusive interview.
We asked about his office's findings of unlawful activity by the government and the accusations of corruption he is himself facing https://t.co/NhbFkAtkrD
— Notes from Poland 馃嚨馃嚤 (@notesfrompoland) January 5, 2022
That led to INTOSAI – which is the main global body representing state audit institutions – launching an investigation. It confirmed that “the limitations faced by NIK…constitute an infringement of the…Declaration on SAI [State Audit Office] Independence”.
INTOSAI found “interference faced by NIK and its auditors in conducting specific audits”. It cited examples of state-owned companies, such as Orlen, PGNiG and Energy, questioning NIK’s mandate to conduct audits.
The report also noted “significant delays in the appointment of NIK officials”, including NIK’s director general and members of the NIK college proposed by Bana艣. Such “prolonged vacancies” make the work of NIK’s president more difficult, it noted.
Poland鈥檚 Supreme Audit Office is seeking charges against the country鈥檚 largest company, energy giant Orlen, after the firm refused attempts by NIK to audit it.
Orlen argues that the audits had no legal basis and it therefore could not cooperate with them https://t.co/nG55wR8b75
— Notes from Poland 馃嚨馃嚤 (@notesfrompoland) February 1, 2023
Finally, INTOSAI pointed to “financial limitations faced by NIK”, which saw its budget for wages cut whereas other state institutions, such as the National Labour Inspectorate and the prime minister’s chancellery, saw theirs increased.
“The financial restrictions make it impossible for NIK to recruit new qualified staff members,” wrote INTOSAI.
Announcing INTOSAI findings earlier this week, Bana艣 called them “devastating”.
Mi臋dzynarodowy zesp贸艂 ekspert贸w ustali艂, 偶e w Polsce w przypadku @NIKgovPL powsta艂o zagro偶enie naruszenia szeregu istotnych zasad przyj臋tych w Deklaracji Niezale偶no艣ci Najwy偶szych Organ贸w Kontroli. Wnioski z raportu s膮 druzgoc膮ce: https://t.co/JjxvTaEnpy
— Marian Bana艣 (@marian_banas) June 19, 2023
Before being appointed as head of NIK, Bana艣 served as finance minister in the current government. However, since then he has regularly been in conflict with former colleagues, including notifying prosecutors of suspected crimes by the prime minister and chairman of the ruling party
Last week, NIK failed to issue a positive opinion on the government鈥檚 implementation of the state budget for the first time since the fall of communism in 1989.
However, the government has itself accused NIK of mispractice, with interior minister Mariusz Kami艅ski this week sending a letter to the speaker of parliament accusing the auditor of a “selective and disrespectful approach to the regulations, a lack of transparency, and a lack of an apolitical character”.
馃敶TYLKO U NAS馃敶
Skandaliczne praktyki kontroler贸w NIK w trakcie post臋powania w KPRM#wieszwi臋cej https://t.co/wHTdaSaCad— tvp.info 馃嚨馃嚤 (@tvp_info) June 19, 2023
Main image credit: NIK
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland鈥檚 economy and energy sector. She previously worked聽for聽Reuters.
