Bulgaria

[BG] Outcome of the Audit for 2009 Performed by the Bulgarian National Audit Office

IRIS 2011-5:1/10

Rayna Nikolova

New Bulgarian University

The audit performed by the National Audit Office on the 2009 activities of the Bulgarian National Television has confirmed that there were no rules or criteria for the management of and reporting on the amounts collected by the donation initiative called “Bulgarian Christmas”.

For the first time in its nine-year existence, the name of the “Bulgarian Christmas” initiative is mentioned in a report of a supervising body. The audit report of the National Audit Office was initiated by the new management of the Bulgarian National Television immediately after it was elected by the Council for Electronic Media last year. The audit covers the period from 2007 to 2010.

The “Bulgarian Christmas” initiative was created in 2003 by the Administration of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, media partners and a collaboration of the telecommunications operators. Since 2007, all money raised by the initiative has been deposited in a bank account held in the United Bulgarian Bank in the name of the Bulgarian National Television. Any disposal of the funds from this account is carried out on the basis of a trilateral protocol countersigned by representatives of the Administration of the President, of Nova Television - First Private Channel and the Bulgarian National Television. “Bulgarian Christmas” is a non-governmental charity set up for the benefit of the public.

The National Audit Office commented as follows:

- There are no rules or criteria under which people who need medical treatment can apply for financial assistance, there are no documents or templates to be submitted to the organisers of “Bulgarian Christmas”.

- There are no priorities for selecting the particular beneficiaries, given the large number of requests filed by individuals and medical institutions.

- There is no effective mechanism for a unanimous resolution of the representatives of the three organisers of the initiative, there exist no rules for regular meetings or internal rules for the procedures of the decision-making body of the initiative.

- Article 6 of the Constituent Act of “Bulgarian Christmas”, obligating the Bulgarian National Television to keep copies of agreements and other documents related to the allocation of funds, is breached.

- When selecting the beneficiaries, the trilateral protocols are not accompanied by the relevant supporting documents.