Recall that in July 2020, after the results of the All-Russian vote, amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation were approved, including the clarification that the issue of appointment and removal of the head of the joint venture is the responsibility of the Federation Council. (previously this was the responsibility of the State Duma).
Now the new rules have been enshrined in federal law, and the Federation Council will present candidates for the position of chairman of the joint venture on the proposal of its committees. Then the senators will present at least three candidates to the president of the Russian Federation, the head of state will choose one and, in turn, will present it to the Federation Council. And if the president does not support any of the candidates presented, he has the right to propose his own version to the senators.
“This balance of the powers of the chambers is due to the fact that the State Duma has significantly increased the powers to form the government of the Russian Federation,” Harry Minkh, the presidential envoy to the State Duma, told deputies.
The head of the control body is appointed for a period of six years. The decision on the early dismissal of the president of the Chamber of Accounts is taken by the senators.
The law also aims to improve the legal framework for the agency’s activities and tools.
“The powers to approve the president of the Accounts Chamber have been transferred to the Federation Council, and the new version of the Accounts Chamber law reflects the changes that were adopted in the Constitution, and in general, the powers and the importance of the Accounts Chamber in our joint work are consolidated, expanded,” he said during the consideration of this issue by the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko.
The department will have permanent access to the information systems of federal state agencies, state extrabudgetary funds and federal state institutions.
In addition, the joint venture will audit projects of state programs and international treaties of the Russian Federation. “Now the Chamber of Accounts has the right to check suppliers of any product, if a purchase is made for state and municipal needs, regardless of the form of ownership,” said Sergei Mironov, head of the SRZP.
The document establishes an open list of methods for the implementation of control activities and expert analysis. At the same time, the content of such methods must be disclosed in the state external audit standards approved by the chamber.
It should be noted that at a meeting on November 30, the Federation Council has already exercised its constitutional powers regarding the joint venture and accepted the resignation of Chairman Alexei Kudrin, who became a corporate development adviser at Yandex and announced on December 9 he had taken a new job. The senators explained that the Constitution has the greatest legal force in comparison with the law of the Chamber of Accounts, which at that time did not have time to rewrite. Now the department head must be appointed under the updated procedure.
