The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and Ethiopia’s Office of the Federal Auditor General (OFAG) entered into a Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on July 30 in Ufa upon bilateral negotiations between Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, and Ms. Meseret Damtie, Federal Auditor General of Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the Fourth Meeting of the Heads of BRICS Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs).

“The signed Cooperation Agreement is a big step towards expanding the audit dialogue for the benefit of our countries. I am confident that cooperation between our supreme audit institutions can make a special contribution to strengthening the Russian-Ethiopian partnership in all areas,” 

noted Boris Kovalchuk.

During the meeting, the parties discussed key areas and formats for the development of cooperation between SAIs Russia and Ethiopia, both on a bilateral basis and within international audit modalities. The most promising knowledge sharing issues are digitalization of audits and anti-corruption, Boris Kovalchuk said.

A particular focus was placed on boosting the audit-related dialogue within BRICS, which Ethiopia joined in 2024. 

“Involving the public audit institutions of the new BRICS countries in the dialogue format of the BRICS SAIs is a priority for the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation,” 

emphasized Boris Kovalchuk. 

In addition, the head of the Russian SAI invited his Ethiopian colleagues to join two INTOSAI working groups chaired by the Accounts Chamber of Russian Federation (on SDGs and Key Sustainable Development Indicators and on Public Procurement Audit) and also to actively use the U-INTOSAI capabilities to improve professional level of their inspectors.