On Wednesday January 22, ISET had the opportunity to host Lasha Tordia, General Auditor of the State Audit Office of Georgia (SAO) and other members of his delegation.
ISET Director Eric Livny introduced the guests from the SAO with a quote from the play “Revizor” by the great Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol: “господа к нам едет ревизор” (Messieurs, “inspector” is coming to us). However, it soon became clear that one of the main goals of Lasha Tordia’s visit was to destroy the unfortunate stereotype that employees of the SOA are dull, nit picking inspectors.
The event opened with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ISET and the SAO, according to which ISET and SAO will collaborate in the implementation of projects,
trainings and research. ISET honors students will also be given the opportunity to undertake internships with the SAO and become involved in its audit activity. Following the signing, Head of the State Budget Analysis unit, former ISET student Tata Khetaguri and General Auditor Lasha Tordia spoke about the SAO’s activities and goals.
More than a dozen ISET graduates are currently employed by the SAO. During his talk, Mr. Tordia emphasized their role in the transformation of Georgia’s auditing processes from the old-style structures and methods of operating to what we have today. In the past, the SAO was associated only with procurators, inspectors and making arrests. Mr. Tordia and his colleagues aim to change these perceptions by implementing international standards and enhancing collaboration with governmental organizations about systemic problems. Currently, the SAO is responsible for analyzing the state budget at the planning and execution levels, as well as conducting three types of audit: financial, compliance and performance audits in the public sector. The latter type of audit was recently introduced and checks how effectively resources are used by governmental organizations when implementing different programs. Mr. Tordia emphasized the importance of innovation and, due to a current lack of quality human resources, that the SAO is opening its doors to qualified people who can help to improve the system.
Concluding his speech, Mr. Tordia expressed hope that the SOA’s and ISET’s collaboration will be fruitful.
