"All projects are aimed at improving the effectiveness of control"

Improving the efficiency of budget use, the digital transformation of state audit and the expansion of international cooperation are becoming the most important areas for the development of the financial control system in Russia. Galina Izotova, Deputy Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) about the results of control activities for 2025, the use of AI technologies, and new formats for interaction with foreign state audit authorities.

"We analyze every detected violation"

— Earlier it was reported that according to the results of inspections, the Accounting Chamber revealed more than 4.5 thousand violations and deficiencies in the amount of over 1.5 trillion rubles. Which areas will be key for inspections in 2026?

— Yes, indeed, by the end of 2025, the total amount of violations and deficiencies identified exceeded 1.5 trillion rubles. In quantitative terms, this is 4,631 violations. The relevant report has been submitted and approved by the Parliament. We are currently analyzing each identified violation and monitoring how the control facilities eliminate deficiencies.

At the same time, the structure of violations has changed compared to previous years. We are pleased that the number of violations related to budget reporting and accounting has decreased. This is extremely important because it is the quality of reporting that is the basis for effective management decisions by government authorities.

However, the three main groups of violations still remain the leaders. The first group includes violations related to the provision and use of subsidies by legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and citizens. Here, questions arise both at the planning stage and at the stage of using funds.

The second group is government procurement. Unfortunately, violations in this area continue to occupy one of the leading positions. The third group is related to the performance of the functions and powers of government agencies. For example, in 2025, we identified signs of non-payment of the recycling fee when importing more than 300 thousand vehicles. This is a huge amount of revenue lost to the budget.

As for 2026, our priorities are determined by the tasks set by the President of the Russian Federation. A total of 384 control and expert-analytical events are planned, of which 215 are thematic.

The focus will be on the efficiency of customs authorities, the assessment of public investments in capital construction facilities, and the analysis of the effectiveness of preferential treatment in special economic zones.

In addition, one of the key areas will be the analysis of cooperative chains and interrelated costs in various sectors of the economy. We consider this to be one of the most significant areas of work for the coming period.

"A social contract is really effectively spent public funds"

— Social contracts in 2025 helped 44% of low-income citizens who signed such agreements to get out of poverty. Can we talk about the effectiveness of this mechanism? Are there plans to expand the program?

— In 2025, the Accounting Chamber conducted a detailed analysis of this measure of support for low-income citizens and saw a very good result. The volume of social contracts increased by 20% compared to 2024. 47 billion rubles were allocated for the implementation of the program. More than 650,000 people received support.

Already during the first year of the social contract, 75% of the participants increased their incomes, and 44% were able to get out of poverty.

We also analyzed the results in the longer term. The income of the participants remains positive even after the end of the first year. After two years, 65% of the program participants continue to see income growth. Most importantly, even after three years, 43% of citizens continue to receive steady additional income.

Since this year, participants in a special military operation have also been able to use the mechanism of social contracts, regardless of their level of need. In my opinion, this is one of the most effective measures of state support. We need to talk more about it and promote its capabilities more actively.

— Do I understand correctly that people manage to keep incomes above the poverty line even after a long time?

— Yes, that's right. If a family receives an additional source of income through a social contract, it continues to develop this line of activity.

The development of personal subsidiary farms remains in high demand. The amount of support is relatively small — as a rule, from 200 thousand to 350 thousand rubles. Someone buys a vehicle for work, someone buys animals for farming. The fields of application are very different.

We recommend that the regional authorities that directly implement this program develop standard business plans and models of social contracts, as well as accompany citizens at all stages of project implementation. This practice already exists, but has not yet been implemented everywhere.

"AI opens up completely new control possibilities for us"

— Today, artificial intelligence is being actively implemented in all spheres of life. Does the Accounting Chamber use AI technologies in its work? What tasks do they help to solve?

— Of course, this is one of our key priorities. In December 2024, the Accounting Chamber adopted a new development strategy, and digital transformation has become one of the central areas of our work.

During this time, we have already achieved significant results. For example, we have implemented a tool that works with primary documents. For the Accounting Chamber, these are inspection reports, payment documents, official records of inspectors and other materials.

The system automatically reads the information, structures it, and generates analytical tables. Thanks to this, we save tens of thousands of hours of working time.

We are currently creating a single digital platform that will combine almost all information resources of participants in the budget process. This will significantly expand the scope of control and analyze a much larger volume of financial transactions and budget funds.

— Are there plans to further expand the use of AI in auditing public funds?

— Absolutely. Let me remind you that the Accounting Chamber was established as a constitutional body for monitoring the use of state resources. Last year we celebrated her 30th birthday.

All projects related to a single digital platform and artificial intelligence technologies are aimed specifically at improving the effectiveness of public funds control. This is our strategic course for the coming years.

"We are not just maintaining international relations, we are actively developing them"

— How has the Accounting Chamber's international cooperation system changed in recent years? Which countries and organizations are most actively working with today?

— The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation is indeed active internationally. Despite the difficult geopolitical situation, we not only maintain international cooperation, but also actively develop it.

Yes, the focus of cooperation has shifted to a certain extent towards the countries of the Global South. Today, the BRICS, SCO and other countries that are actively developing external state audit systems are showing great interest in cooperation.

From 2019 to 2022, the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation headed the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, INTOSAI. During this period, we have managed to implement a number of significant initiatives.

We have created the INTOSAI digital institute, and formed an international repository of audit materials that combines audit results from around the world. In addition, the Russian language has been introduced into the organization's digital platforms, where it was previously absent.

Today, we are actively promoting Russian state audit practices, which are of great interest to our foreign colleagues. The Russian side heads the working group on public procurement audit, participates in the work on auditing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and is also developing a new area — audit at the regional and municipal levels.

Just the day before, we had a meeting with the head of the supreme audit Institution of Saudi Arabia. We discussed our joint plans for the current and next years. Cooperation in the field of education is of great interest.

We have a department of the Accounting Chamber at the Financial University, and we plan to train colleagues from African countries. Vietnam is showing significant interest in the exchange of experience. In turn, we are interested in studying the best practices of our partners, including Saudi Arabia.

— Is it possible to maintain international cooperation in the face of global tension?

— Yes, and moreover, it's not just about maintaining contacts anymore. We are actively developing international cooperation. The interest in cooperation is very high, and the number of areas of collaboration continues to grow.