2025-05-26
The National Audit Office found significant errors in assessing the reliability of the data on museum objects: they were not properly inventoried, so it is not known whether all the museum objects recorded in the accounts really exist. Inadequate inventories can lead to the loss of museum objects, says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
According to the Accounts of the State for 2024, cultural and other assets represent more than EUR 1 billion of state assets. The auditors' examination of the accounts of three museums - the National M.K. Čiurlionis Art Museum, the National Art Museum of Lithuania and the National Museum of Lithuania - which showed that museum assets amounted to almost EUR 500 million, did not allow us to confirm the correctness of this amount. Museums do not have an analytical register of museum objects and these objects are not inventoried as required by the Inventory Rules.
According to the auditors, the inventory of assets and liabilities is one of the most important control procedures to ensure that the financial statements are accurate. The responsibility for ensuring that the balances of the asset and liability accounts are based on the inventory data rests with the head of the institution. In the case of tangible fixed assets, the inventory is carried out by physically verifying the presence of the inventoried items at the locations indicated in the financial accounting records. In all three museums mentioned, the inventory of museum objects was not properly carried out and it was not ensured that all assets recorded in the accounts actually existed.
"We have examined three museums during this audit, but we cannot deny that other museums have the same situation where they do not know what items are stored. This practice of asset management, where assets are not responsibly inventoried, can lead to shortages, losses or discrepancies being overlooked. If we do not know in peacetime how many or what museum objects Lithuania has, how can we properly protect them in the event of various emergencies?", the Auditor General points out.
In order to have accurate and reliable data on museum assets, which would also help prevent losses, we look to the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, which shapes state policy on museums, and we have recommended that it draft legislation to provide guidance on the financial accounting and inventory of museum assets. This would help museums to get their data in order as soon as possible.
The National Audit Office performed its constitutional duty and issued audit opinions on the 2024 Accounts of the State, on the accounts of five resource funds - Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, State Social Insurance Fund, Guarantee Fund, Long-term Employment Benefits Fund, and the Pension Annuities Fund, as well as on the accounts of the State Defence Fund.
The auditors gave unqualified opinions on the Guarantee Fund, the Long-Term Employment Benefits Fund, the Pension Annuity Fund and the National Defence Fund, which were free from material misstatements. Qualified opinions were issued on the accounts of the State, Social Insurance Fund and Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. This means that significant errors have been identified in the sets which prevent us from obtaining a true and fair view of the amount and nature of the State's assets, the Fund's liabilities for social benefits and the true amount of receivables.
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