Spending violations uncovered by a state auditor have reportedly doubled in Russia in the past year, with the defense and space industries accounting for the majority of misspent funds.
The Russian space agency has been the Audit Chamber’s top target for financial violations in annual reports, including the Roscosmos federal space agency and a new spaceport in Russia’s Far East.
Russia’s Audit Chamber found 1.87 trillion rubles ($20 billion) in spending violations in 2017, up from 965.8 billion rubles in 2016, the RBC business portal reported Wednesday.
Budget funds were reportedly misspent the most in the space and defense industries, at 785.5 billion rubles and 544.5 billion rubles respectively.
The Audit Chamber also reportedly found 84.7 billion of misspent budgetary funds in the healthcare sector, followed by 51 billion rubles in education and 23.8 billion rubles in transportation.
In nominal terms, the violations nearly doubled from 3,800 in 2016 to 6,500 last year.
The spike may have been caused by higher-quality auditing and economic and geopolitical “uncertainty,” RBC cited Natalya Akindinova, a director at the Higher School of Economics Center for Development, as saying.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
