On July 16, 2020, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Aleksei Kudrin and President of the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia Tomaž Vesel held a meeting by videoconference. The results of the parallel audit of the implementation of two intergovernmental agreements held in 2019–2020 were discussed: on cooperation in the field of culture, science and education, and on the establishment and operation of the scientific and cultural centres.
The parties praised the cooperation between Russia and Slovenia in the field of human sciences. In general, the implementation of the agreements is quite successful: contacts are being established and cooperation between creative, cultural, educational, scientific and professional organizations of the two states is expanding. It was noted that the interest in studying Russian language and literature is constantly increasing in Slovenia, inter-university interaction and academic exchange are actively developing.
The key point of the agreements implementation was the establishment in 2011 of the Russian Scientific and Cultural Centre in Ljubljana, the Slovenian Representative Office of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation. During the meeting, Auditor of the Accounts Chamber Valery Bogomolov, who led the parallel audit from the Russian side, emphasized that over the nine years of its activity, the Russian Centre held a number of successful activities aimed to introduce the Slovenians to the Russian history, science and culture. The most important event was the opening in 2019 of the "Eternal Flame" at the monument to the Sons of Russia and the Soviet Union, who died in Slovenia during the World Wars I and II.
The Supreme State Auditor of the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia Miroslav Kranjc drew attention to the fact that the Russian and Slovenian parties came to similar conclusions in their audit findings, which indicates not only the common views and values between Russia and Slovenia, but also that the inspectors and auditors of the two SAIs perform their work conscientiously, honestly and professionally.
The audit of cooperation in the field of culture, science and education is not the first parallel audit conducted by the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation in collaboration with the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia. In 2013–2014 the parallel audit of the implementation of the Intergovernmental Memorandum on Important Projects for the Expansion of Bilateral Economic Cooperation was held.
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