State Audit Office finds unrecorded assets and unused mobile fuel laboratory at Bureau of Metrology
Audit for 2024 found missing asset entries, invoicing backlogs and that a government-funded mobile laboratory was unused due to no requests.
The State Audit Office's audit of the Bureau of Metrology for 2024 found unrecorded material assets and a missed opportunity to test fuel quality using a mobile laboratory, concluding with an adverse opinion on the truthfulness and objectivity of the bureau’s financial statements and its compliance with legal rules and established policies.
Key findings of the 2024 audit
The audit identified weaknesses in the conduct of inventory of assets, receivables and liabilities as of 31.12.2024, which prevented reconciliation of accounting records with the physical inventory. It states that part of the assets valued at 145,191 thousand denars, or about 2.3 million euros, procured in prior years were still not recorded in the bureau’s books and balance sheet because the handover from the Ministry of Economy and Labour had not been completed. The audit also found differences between accounting records and inventory for fixed assets amounting to 5,544 thousand denars.
During 2024 the bureau purchased seals, stamps, verification stickers and report forms totaling 4,266 thousand denars, of which 646 thousand denars were through budget account 631-18 and 3,620 thousand denars through budget account 631-13. The audit notes that no accounting or material records were established for these consumables, even though they are used in verification services and form the basis for the bureau’s revenue.
Weaknesses were also found in recording and collecting receivables for performed services. On the balance sheet as of 31.12.2024, receivables from customers are shown at 40,549 thousand denars, but some clients display negative balances of 11,735 thousand denars, which means receivables are not presented realistically in the financial reports. The audit further found that receivables from issued invoices for homologation services were not recorded promptly: during 2024, receivables of 14,193 thousand denars were recorded (10,034 thousand denars on account 631-18 and 4,159 thousand denars on account 631-13), of which 2,322 thousand denars relate to invoices issued in 2023, while in 2025 receivables of 1,477 thousand denars were recorded against invoices issued in 2024.
The bureau reported total revenue from verification of measures, calibration of standards and measurement instruments and other services in 2024 of 122,400 thousand denars, mostly from verification services. However, the audit found that of total invoiced verification services in 2024 amounting to 182,966 thousand denars, a sum of 82,092 thousand denars — roughly 1.3 million euros — related to requests submitted in the period 2018–2023, indicating substantial delays in invoicing.
The audit highlighted inefficient use of equipment purchased for testing the quality of liquid fuels. The bureau acquired a mobile laboratory for fuel quality testing in 2019 by government decision for 37,367 thousand denars, and additional equipment in 2021 for 24,758 thousand denars. Despite the significant investment, no analyses were carried out through the mobile laboratory in 2024 because the State Market Inspectorate — the body contracted to submit requests for use of the laboratory — did not send requests.
The audit also noted that the bureau has not established records of issued type-approvals and registration consents issued by the technical service and the authorised technical inspection legal entity for vehicle identification and assessment, an obligation under the Vehicle Law. This gap exists because the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not implemented a vehicle register to enable data entry and exchange between competent institutions. Additional weaknesses were identified in monitoring and controlling revenues collected from verification services performed by authorised legal entities: although those entities must remit 20% of the value of services to the bureau, there are no clear rules on reporting, control and payment deadlines. Reporting to the bureau is quarterly, but payments are often delayed by six to nine months after the end of the quarter, creating a risk of untimely and incomplete revenue collection.
The State Audit Office provided a set of recommendations intended to address the identified weaknesses and ensure correction of the causes that produced the findings.
Photo: press material from the event
