During the bilateral meeting in Brussels, Head of the State Audit Service of Ukraine Alla Basalaieva and Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) Ville Itälä discussed the future reforms of the financial control system to be introduced in Ukraine in line with EU standards.

Alla Basalaieva noted the symbolism of this meeting, as a year ago Ville Itälä visited Kyiv, where the administrative cooperation arrangement between the State Audit Service and OLAF was signed.

“Today in Brussels we are talking about deepening bilateral cooperation on a practical level. Despite the war in Ukraine, I believe that our cooperation is effective. There are many challenges that the Ukrainian people and government face on the way to joining the EU family: in particular, in the issue of controlling the use of funds that Ukraine receives from its allies. Ukraine and Ukrainians greatly appreciate this assistance. And we are aware that this assistance is provided by your taxpayers,” said the Head of the State Audit Service.

According to Alla Basalaieva, thanks to the agreement signed in Kyiv and the strengthening of cooperation between the parties, information is already being exchanged, which is important for the consideration of allegations of fraud and violations harming the EU budget. She expressed hope that this cooperation would be strengthened in the future when the Ukrainian Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS) is deployed on the basis of the State Audit Service to control the funds of international donors.

As previously reported, OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä noted the effectiveness of cooperation with the State Audit Service of Ukraine. He emphasised that the Ukrainian side promptly responded to OLAF’s requests for information on fraud or irregularities affecting the EU budget and potentially harming the financial interests of the European Union.