The State Audit Institution of the Republic of Serbia celebrated its jubilee – 180 years since the establishment of the Main Control – the forerunner of the State Audit Institution (SAI). The formal academy, held at the National Theater in Belgrade, was attended by Auditor General Jovo Radukić who, on behalf of the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public Sector, received a certificate of appreciation from Dr. Duško Pejović, President of the SAI. Representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of the Republic of Serbia, independent institutions, international supreme audit institutions, international organizations, media, civil society organizations, and employees of the SAI attended the ceremony.
Auditor General Jovo Radukić, while receiving the certificate of appreciation, pointed out that the SAI of the Republic of Serbia headed by Dr. Duško Pejović significantly improved and deepened cooperation with the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public Sector, as evidenced by the renewed Agreement on Professional Cooperation between our two institutions.
“The bilateral cooperation that takes place with our colleagues from Serbia on a partnership basis, as well as their support in regional and international cooperation, is of great importance to us and we will jointly improve it further because it is a natural path considering that we are the same nation, and as supreme auditing institutions, we share professional and institutional goals. I would like to remind you that in the past three years, the Supreme Audit Office has been controlling the final account of the SAI of Serbia and that all three reports were adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, which gave our institution additional importance, but it is another significant indicator of the level of cooperation of the SAI of the Republic Srpska and the SAI of the Republic of Serbia headed by the current leadership. On behalf of the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public Sector, I congratulate you on your jubilee and thank you most sincerely for the attention we received in these three days.“, said Auditor General Jovo Radukić.
Dr. Duško Pejović, President of the SAI and State Auditor General said that on 14/26. In July 1844, the Prince of Serbia Aleksandar Karađorđević signed the “Organizations of Main Control”, i.e. the Law on Main Control.
Dr. Pejović recalled the long history of this institution and emphasized that “according to all constitutions and laws, the task of this control body has always been the same – examination of accounts and inspection of state coffers.”
“The State Accounting Office, the Main Control or the State Audit Institution – as it is called today, are the historical names of an institution that has existed for 180 years with the same goal – to control the management of state funds, that is, in today’s words, which helps the Republic of Serbia to manage and use wisely their resources,” said Dr. Pejović.
From 2018 to 2023, as he pointed out, the SAI achieved significant progress in the scope and diversity of its reports.
The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, delivered the final speech at this ceremony and pointed out that the Serbian people institutionalized the mechanism of control over the spending of public funds 180 years ago and added that citizens have the right to know how their money is spent.
“The existence of an institution for such a long time, which is older than some European institutions of this type, shows that our people always wanted to have strong institutions and an organized state”, said the president of the National Assembly, who also attended the ceremonial academy in the capacity of a special envoy of the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.
After Ana Brnabić’s final speech, Dr. Pejović presented individual certificates of thanks for the President of the Republic of Serbia, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Committee for Finances, the Republic Budget and Control of Spending of Public Funds, the Committee for Administrative-Budgetary and Mandate-Immunity Issues, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Finance, National Theater in Belgrade, Directorate for Joint Affairs of Republic Bodies, Public Enterprise “Službeni Glasnik”, Academic Cultural and Artistic Society “Španac”, USAID Project for the Improvement of Public Procurement, Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public Sector, State Institute for Audit of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Association of Accountants and Auditors of Serbia and prof. Dr. Momcilo Pavlović.
The three-day celebration of the anniversary – of 180 years of the SAI began on July 24 with a ceremonial reception and the opening of the exhibition “From the Main Control to the State Audit Institution 1844 – 2024” in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, followed by a conference on July 25, in the form of an expert panel discussion held in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and concluded with a ceremonial academy in the National Theatre.
The Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public Sector was also represented by the deputy auditor general Božana Trninić and senior auditor for financial audit Bojan Ćurić.
