From 3 to 6 November 2025, experts from the State Audit Office of Latvia, that is, Senior State Auditor Gints Puriņš and Senior State Auditor Olga Štajere, visited the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, to share their experience in conducting financial and municipality audits. The visit took place as part of the development cooperation project ES Building the Capacity of the EU's Eastern Partnership and of Uzbekistan’s Supreme Audit Institutions in the Process of Integrating the Standards of International Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).
During the visit, Latvian experts, together with their Moldovan colleagues, analysed the stages of financial audits from planning and internal control, common errors to report preparation, monitoring, application of recommendations and implementation of recommendations. Much attention was paid to audit quality monitoring, data automation and application of recommendations in practice. In the field of municipality audits, the organization of the audit process, use of manuals, self-assessment questionnaires, sample formation and cooperation with audited entities were discussed. The topics were selected based on the challenges identified by Moldovan colleagues to ensure targeted and sustainable support.
Representatives of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Moldova highly appreciated the support and interest in sharing experience of the State Audit Office of Latvia. Colleagues expressed their desire to continue cooperation, especially in the areas of policy area analysis and risk identification, selection of audit topics and automation of financial audits from development of terms of reference to practical implementation.
A wide range of participants participated in the training sessions such as auditors and specialists from various departments of the SAI Moldova, as well as Council Members Natalia Trofim and Eduard Morosan. In the discussions and presentations, Latvia’s experience in compliance audits in municipalities and the use of digital solutions in financial audit processes was highly appreciated.
“The interest and questions of Moldovan colleagues indicate a genuine desire to improve and implement the principles of European practice in their work. This is confirmed by both the widely attended trainings and the constant questions, as well as our long-term cooperation since 2016,” stressed experts of the State Audit Office of Latvia Gints Puriņš and Olga Štajere.
The State Audit Office of Latvia has been implementing development cooperation projects in support of the supreme audit institutions of the EU Eastern Partnership countries and Uzbekistan since 2016. This year, the beneficiaries of support are Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The projects are financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia from the budget program for development cooperation and international assistance in accordance with the Development Cooperation Policy Plan.
About the State Audit Office of Latvia
The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is an independent, collegial supreme audit institution. The purpose of its activity is to find out whether the actions with the financial means and property of a public entity are legal, correct, useful and in line with public interests, as well as to provide recommendations for the elimination of discovered irregularities. The State Audit Office conducts audits in accordance with International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions INTOSAI (ISSAI), whose recognition in Latvia is determined by the Auditor General. Upon discovering deficiencies, the State Audit Office of Latvia provides recommendations for their elimination, but it informs law enforcement authorities about potential infringements of the law.