Auditi lõpparuande edastamine

Audit report form v.5 AUDIT OF OPERATION REPORT Central Baltic INTERREG V A Cross-border Co-operation Programme 2014 – 2020 AUDIT NUMBER: Date of final audit report 09.11.2023 Contradictory procedure N/A Accounting period 01.07.2022 – 30.06.2023 Progress report No. 5.1 € 60 107,80, audited 100% Audit scope Progress report No. 6.1, € 66 156,98, audited 100% Kätlin Tiimus, Auditor of II Audit Unit, Financial Control Department of Ministry of Finance of Estonia, Suur-Ameerika 1, 10129 Tallinn, Estonia Auditor(s) Mart Pechter, Audit Supervisor, Acting Head of the II Audit Unit, Financial Control Department of Ministry of Finance of Estonia, Suur-Ameerika 1, 10129 Tallinn, Estonia Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications Audited organization Lõõtsa 6, Tallinn & contact information Project manager Jana Silaškova +372 5340 5200 & [email protected] Place of the audit Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications Jana Silaškova, project manager Persons present during the audit Heleri Vahemäe, office manager Date of on-the-spot checks N/A Competitive Economy Through Cross Border Export Support to Full project name Sub-Saharan Africa, India, and UAE Countries Project Number & Acronym CB776 - eMesai Priority Axis 1. Competitive economy Specific Objective SO 1.3 More exports by the Central Baltic companies to new markets Reporting Period 01.04.2021 – 31.12.2021 Name of the Lead Partner Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications Project duration 01.04.2019 – 31.12.2021 (start and end dates) Based on the audit work performed we have obtained reasonable assurance that the AUDIT expenditure declared under the audited operation CB776 - eMesai within priority CONCLUSION axis 1 in the reference year 01.07.2022 – 30.06.2023 is, in all material aspects, legal and regular. There is one non-significant finding. Page 1  Audit report form v.5 Number of Total Financial Total Financial Nature of the finding(s) findings Impact Impact ERDF The auditee hasn’t properly recorded the De minimis aid in the 1 € 0.00 € 0.00 National State Aid register. (Minor finding, without financial impact) PART 1 – AUDIT SCOPE According to Article 127 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 the audit authority is responsible to carry out audits of operations based on supporting documents constituting the audit trail and verify the legality and regularity of expenditure declared to the Commission, including the following aspects: a) that the operation was selected in accordance with the selection criteria for the Operational Programme, was not physically completed or fully implemented before the beneficiary submitted the application for funding under the Operational Programme, has been implemented in accordance with the approval decision and fulfilled any conditions applicable at the time of the audit concerning its functionality, use, and objectives to be attained. b) that the expenditure declared to the Commission corresponds to the accounting records and that the required supporting documentation demonstrates an adequate audit trail. c) that for expenditure declared to the Commission determined in accordance with Articles 67(1)(b) and (c) and 109 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013, outputs and results underpinning payments to the beneficiary have been delivered, participant data or other records related to outputs and results are consistent with the information submitted to the Commission and that the required supporting documentation demonstrates an adequate audit trail. PART 1.1 – LIMITATION OF SCOPE The conclusions of the audit are based on the analysis of the procedure in place, information and documents gathered and interviews conducted in the audited bodies as well as the tests performed during the audit following the checklist for the audit areas. PART 1.2 – AUDIT METHODOLOGY The audit is carried out in compliance with international accepted auditing standards and the audit strategy, which is approved by the audit authority and group of auditors representing each Central Baltic INTERREG VA Programme Member State. The audit process comprises of three stages: a) Preparation and planning of the audit. In this stage legal regulations and other documentation, including from the management verification ex Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013, Article 23(4), needed for familiarizing with the selected operations were collected and analyzed. Also, interviews or checklists sent which were needed for the planning of the audit, familiarizing with the functioning of the system, project file structure, the objectives, and the status of implementation of the operations, the risk encountered during the implementation as well as those inherent to the type of operations. b) Fieldwork At this stage a whole range of interviews with responsible staff were conducted, documents were gathered, and testing was performed. To attain the audit objectives during the audit we tested all Page 2  Audit report form v.5 applicable audit areas. We performed the audit using the checklists for the several audit areas which enabled us to verify the requirements laid down in European and national legislation. The assurance about the achievement of the project’s objectives was attained via documentation uploaded to the Programme’s information system (eMS), e-mail conversation with the project partner and photos of the project activities. c) Reporting This is the final report. The auditors made one non-significant finding in the report. This was done to make a note of the issue and no comments are expected from the auditee or the Programme bodies. As this was a finding with no financial impact or no high-risk systemic impact, no contradictory procedure is deemed necessary by the auditors. PART 2 – FINANCIAL DATA OF OPERATION Financial data of audited partner must be listed. PART 2.1 – BUDGET (€) Audited Partners approved budget Granted in % Payments included % total for the in the payment partner claim ERDF € 295.959,71 81,64% € 103.082,57 81,64% Public funding (total) € 0.00 0% € 0.00 0% Private funding € 66.558,31 18,36% € 23.182,21 18,36% Income € 0.00 0% € 0.00 0% TOTAL PARTNER BUDGET € 362.518,02 100% € 126 264,78 100% Audited expenditure (according to the Report 5.1 1) Total amount audited Ineligible detected in Budget Line (combining audit scope milestones) 1. Staff costs € 42.632,92 € 0.00 2. Office and administration € 6.394,93 € 0.00 3. Travel and accommodation € 2.243,15 € 0.00 4. External expertise and services € 8.836,8 € 0.00 5. Equipment € 0.00 € 0.00 6. Infrastructure and works € 0.00 € 0.00 Total amount audited € 60.107,80 € 0.00 Audited expenditure (according to the Report 6.1 2) Total amount audited Ineligible detected in Budget Line (combining audit scope milestones) 1. Staff costs € 8.690,01 € 0.00 2. Office and administration € 1.303,50 € 0.00 3. Travel and accommodation € 27.357,40 € 0.00 4. External expertise and services € 28.806,07 € 0.00 5. Equipment € 0.00 € 0.00 6. Infrastructure and works € 0.00 € 0.00 Total amount audited € 66.156,98 € 0.00 1 Costs outside the sample were not audited. 2 Costs outside the sample were not audited. Page 3  Audit report form v.5 PART 3 – FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PART 3.1 GENERAL During the audit we identify and document audit findings. We categorize these findings by reference to the level of importance. The categories which we use to classify our findings are as follows: Findings which have a financial impact above EUR 250 (ERDF) or any other high- Major risk deficiencies. Findings for which action should be taken to ensure full compliance but have a Minor limited financial impact (below EUR 250 (ERDF)), no financial consequences or no high-risk character. All audit findings are reported in the final audit report, even if the Member States participating in the Programme may decide that neither the lead beneficiary nor the Programme's MA is obliged to recover an amount unduly paid which does not exceed EUR 250, per operation and accounting year, not including interest, in contribution from the Funds and the EMFF, as all the irregular amounts detected are to be taken into account for the calculation of the annual Total Error Rate of the Programme. PART 3.2 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PER BUDGET LINE In this paragraph the findings and recommendations per audit area are included. State Aid Audit Finding No. 1 – The beneficiary hasn’t properly recorded the De minimis aid in the state aid register. (Minor finding, without financial impact) According to the project Subsidy Contract § 2 p 8 “the subsidy has been granted under De minimis rule and therefore the relevant restrictions and obligations must be followed”. Programme Manual states that “the Lead Partner (LP) is responsible for identifying the amounts of De minimis received by target group companies using De Minimis declarations3. The LP also must inform target group companies and the national central registry about given aid.” The LP explained that the amounts with which LP supported the companies that were the final beneficiaries within the project were small. Thus, they did not ask for state aid declarations separately, but checked participating companies’ De minimis balance from the National State Aid register. As part of the eMesai project, the LP kept De minimis aid records in an Excel table. Auditors checked the participated companies De minimis aid balance and did not identify a situation where any of those companies shouldn’t have received support. It is identifiable, who has granted De minimis aid and in what amount. The sole error lies in the fact that the LP hasn’t duly recorded the De minimis aid in the National State Aid register. Conclusion: The correct De minimis aid registration is important because it promotes transparency, accountability, and fair competition in the allocation of public funds. The De minimis aid received by target group companies is currently still not registered in the National State Aid register. Recommendation to the Beneficiary: 3 to be collected during the selection process of participating companies Page 4  Audit report form v.5 It is recommended to properly record the De minimis aid it in the National State Aid register afterwards. Recommendation to the Managing Authority: It was not clear to the beneficiary nor to the Central Baltic National Contact Point, who must declare the De minimis aid given in the current case to final beneficiaries. To avoid similar situations in the future, we recommend considering whether to give the LP/PP a clear obligation to keep records of the given aid and the National Contact Point a clear obligation to enter the aid in the National State Aid register. PART 4 - FOLLOW-UP This audit report is compiled for use of the Audit Authority of the Central Baltic INTERREG VA 2014-2020 Programme and will be used to draw conclusions about the functioning of the Management and Control Systems of the above-mentioned Programme. Information in the report will be disclosed to relevant parties involved of management of the EU funds, including Commission services. The Auditee is responsible to implement the recommendations. Audit manager: Kätlin Tiimus Signature Audit supervisor: Mart Pechter Signature Page 5  Hr Ats Albre Eesti Infotehnoloogia ja Meie 09.11.2023 nr 10-5/6813-1 Telekommunikatsiooni Liit [email protected] Auditi lõpparuande edastamine Austatud härra Albre Edastame Teile Kesk-Läänemere INTERREG V-A programmi projekti nr CB776 „Competitive Economy Through Cross Border Export Support to Sub-Saharan Africa, India and UAE Countries (eMesai)“ projektiauditi lõpparuande nr CB-30/2023. Auditi eesmärk oli anda hinnang struktuuritoetuse kasutamisele Vabariigi Valitsuse 7. augusti 2014. a määruse nr 127 „Perioodi 2014-2020 struktuuritoetuse andmise ja kasutamise auditeerimine” § 4 lõike 1 järgi. Täname Teid meeldiva koostöö ja osutatud abi eest Lugupidamisega (allkirjastatud digitaalselt) Kaur Siruli Finantskontrolli osakonna juhataja Lisa: Auditi lõpparuanne Teadmiseks: Pr Imbi Uusjärv, Riigi Tugiteenuste Keskus ([email protected]) Pr Mairi Uusen, Riigi Tugiteenuste Keskus ([email protected]) Hr Urmo Merila, Riigi Tugiteenuste Keskus ([email protected]) Kätlin Tiimus +372 5885 1403 [email protected] Suur-Ameerika 1 / 10122 Tallinn / 611 3558 / [email protected] / www.rahandusministeerium.ee registrikood 70000272