The Court of Accounts discovered irregularities at ANSVSA: erroneous financial statements and compensation payments for pigs that did not exist

The Court of Accounts identified serious problems in the way the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) prepared its financial statements for 2024.

Following the review of the accounting and financial documents, the auditors issued an “adverse opinion,” the most severe type of opinion expressed on the financial statements of a public institution. The conclusion shows that the information presented by ANSVSA in its balance sheet does not accurately reflect the authority’s financial position.

The novelty lies in the severity of the auditors’ finding: this is not merely about isolated errors or instances of non-compliance, but about an assessment that the financial statements, taken as a whole, do not provide a true and fair view of the institution’s financial position.

The most serious situation identified by the Court of Accounts concerns the payment of compensation for animals that, according to the documents reviewed by the auditors, did not exist.

The case occurred in Vrancea in January 2024, during an outbreak of African swine fever at a commercial farm. The documents prepared by ANSVSA, including the epidemiological investigation, indicated that there were 20,328 pigs on the farm. Nevertheless, the compensation granted to the owner was calculated for 21,324 animals. The difference is 996 pigs.

Another significant problem concerns liabilities. ANSVSA did not record in its accounts liabilities of nearly 11 million lei, representing veterinary services that had already been provided in the second half of 2024.