Education and Science, Financial Services, Legislation, Lithuania

The Ministry of Education and Science in Lithuania.

Irregularities relating to the management of public funds and assets as well as errors in drawing up consolidated financial statements were identified at all audited entities, the Audit Office said in a report.

"For several years already the ministry has been failing to comply with budgetary discipline and has not been returning the unused funds to the state budget – instead, it has been using these funds to cover the expenditure of the following year. Also, the ministry failed to ensure proper maintenance of state-owned immovable property which is not used by its subsidiaries or to transfer this property to third persons. A number of other violations related to the lease of assets have been identified as well," said Auditor General Giedre Svediene.

The Ministry of Education and Science did not return LTL 876,480 (EUR 254,000) to the state budget at the end of 2013 and used these funds to pay an advance membership fee for participating in the international programme NordPlus in 2014. The State Studies Foundation subordinate to the ministry did not return the unused amount of LTL 768,240 (EUR 222,000) to the state budget either, transferring the money to its deposit bank account.