On September 2, 2025 in Cholpon-Ata, under the Chairmanship of the Accounts Chamber of Kyrgyzstan in the Council of the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the CIS member states (CIS SAIs Heads Council) a multilateral seminar on the issues of ensuring the independence of public audit was held.

SAIs Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan took part in the event. SAIs Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan joined the meeting online.

Opening the seminar, Mr. Alimzhan Baigazakov, Auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic, noted that the high degree of SAI independence is a guarantee of the quality of its work and credibility in conducting audits. It also contributes to the reduction of corruption and improvement of transparency of government agencies actions in general.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Public Administration Audit – Head of the Inspectorate Ms. Irina Kartavykh shared the experience of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. The speaker drew attention to the fact that SAI independence is the key to the quality of audit activities, which is based on the mechanisms and standards developed in the Accounts Chamber. They ensure the credibility of conclusions and the impartiality of requirements and recommendations on the audit results. Ms. Kartavykh also emphasized that digitalization is becoming the key element in strengthening the independence of the Accounts Chamber: the introduction of end-to-end digital support technologies for audit objects allows tracking each financial transaction, creating an immutable digital history. This  eliminates the possibility of manipulation and distortion of information.

The following participants also made reports on ensuring the independence of SAI activities: the Leading Specialist of the State Budget Analysis and Strategic Analysis Department of the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Majid Mariyev, the Head of the Department for Coordination of Activities of Control (Supervisory) Bodies of the Republic of Belarus of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Denis Bartosh, the Head of the Office of the Accounts Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Bolotbek Elebesov, the Acting Head of the Budget and Local Budgets Audit Sector of the Republic of Karakalpakstan of the Accounts Chamber of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr. Otabek Kodirov.

The participants agreed to continue the exchange of information in the field of ensuring the public audit independence and proposed new topics for joint examination: SAI digitalization, IT audit and identification of corruption risks.