Press release “The start of the EU twinning project for capacities development of the Ministry of Finance related to combating irregularity and fraud within EU funds”

Today in EU Info Centre an opening ceremony was held to mark the start of the Twinning light project “Capacities development for the Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS)”

This project, with total budget of 200.000,00 EUR, is financed by the European Union and it is implemented in partnership between Ministry of Finance of Montenegro and Ministry of Finance of Republic of Croatia, with administrative support provided by Central Finance and Contracting Agency of Republic of Croatia with overall objective to support Montenegrin administration in protection of EU financial interests.

Mr Hermann Spitz, Head of Cooperation Section of EU Delegation to Montenegro, H.E. Ambassador of Republic of Croatia to Montenegro Mr Veselko Grubišić and Mr Nemanja Katnić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance have addressed the participants while Project Leaders, Nataša Kovačević and Mirjana Jurić,  have presented the results and activities of the project.

During six-month implementation of the project, Croatian and Montenegrin experts will jointly implement activities in order to strengthen the capacities of the Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (AFCOS office) as well as legal framework. The analysis of current institutional set up will be conducted, after which Operational Protocols, Guidelines, National Anti-fraud Strategy and Risk Assessment methodology will be prepared. 

Moreover, Croatian experts will conduct trainings, organize study visits for their Montenegrin counterparts to Croatian institutions and organize seminars for the general public and media in order to increase public awareness on anti-fraud issues in EU funds and work of the AFCOS office.

Anti-Fraud Coordination Service within Ministry of Finance (AFCOS office) cooperates with state institutions and coordinates all activities in the field of combating irregularities and fraud within EU funds. AFCOS office is engaged in the overall coordination in the fight against irregularity and fraud which affect the European Union financial interests through operational cooperation, reporting irregularities and administrative control activities. Its role includes co-ordination with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and Montenegrin institutions that manage and use the EU pre-accession assistance (IPA) funds as well as Montenegrin bodies responsible for suppression of fraud, corruption and any other type of irregularity within the system.  

Moreover, this Twinning project will contribute to the implementation of the activities envisaged by the Montenegrin Programme for Accession 2017-2018 and, in particular, by Chapter 32 (Financial Control). The main objectives of the latter are: prevention of misuse of financial assistance, contribution to a more efficient, successful, and accountable spending, which offers an important mechanism for fighting corruption.

It is expected that sharing experience and lesson learning between the Beneficiary institution – Montenegrin Ministry of Finance and the Member State institution – Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia will lead to improved capacities of the AFCOS office in Montenegro and, as a consequence, to more successful protection of EU financial interests.