“I refuse to sign the audit report when Parliament’s Bureau considers a possible suspension [Tytti] Yli-Viikari, [the director of VTV], the Audit Committee is working on the opinion and even the National Investigation Bureau (KRP) is investigating the matter, ”Niemi told the newspaper.
“I think it would be foolish to sign a clean inspection report on VTV. This needs to be examined in more detail. “
VTV has come under scrutiny after the excessive costs of Yli-Viikari’s beauty, travel and entertainment expenses have been reported. According to Niemi, the additional audit will pay special attention to these issues.
“The biggest concern stems from the possibility of being contradictory – for example, the thousands of euros spent on make-up services, which have sparked a lot of public debate,” he said.
The audit is carried out by an expert organization specializing in public sector audits.
VTV and Yli-Viikari are also under the supervision of other organizations. Last week, the Parliamentary Office began a temporary hearing of the director for the duration of the investigation initiated by the KRP. The next item is the debate on Thursday.
Meanwhile, KRP is not only looking for Yli-Viikari but also Mikko Koiranen, General Counsel of VTV. The BTI has written that the impetus for the inquiry is an agreement guaranteeing an official a salary without the obligation to work, which was declared illegal by the Parliamentary Ombudsman in December 2020.
Both Yli-Viikari and Koiranen have denied all allegations of crimes in office.
VTV is responsible for auditing and monitoring public finance management. It acts as an independent audit authority under the supervision of Parliament’s auditors and Parliament’s Audit Committee.
Evening paper on Friday wrote that Yli-Viikari has also had to criticize his subordinates for failing to comply with the statutory obligations of the office. The annual reports clearly emphasize that the number of working hours spent on auditing public finances has decreased significantly, to less than a third, in Yli-Viikari’s term since 2016.
The audit activity has also become systematically more pleasant for the subject of the audit over the last five years, all officials of Yli-Viikari and his predecessor, the Chancellor of Justice, agreed. Tuomas Pöysti.
The pleasure written by the daily newspaper has been evident not only in the choice of inspection topics but also in the preparation of inspection reports, so that decision-makers or government officials do not receive a response. Such a work atmosphere has also led to self-censorship, interviewees assess.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page