Audit Chamber reports violations in 2012 federal budget execution

MOSCOW. Russia’s Audit Chamber, a permanent body that audits the federal budget, has reported RUR183bn ($5.7bn, or €4.25bn) worth of damages caused by violations of the law during the 2012 budget execution, Audit Chamber head Sergei Stepashin said during his last address to parliament in that capacity.As much as RUR884bn ($27.4bn, or €20.5bn) of government money were misused, he said.After conducting a series of inspections, the country’s supreme auditor found out that the profitability of investment of the Reserve Fund and National Wealth Fund money continued to decline and was as low as 0.7% in 2012.At the same time, the cost of servicing the country’s sovereign debt has grown 22% year on year to RUR320bn (around $10bn). ''It will exceed RUR400bn this year,'' Stepashin said.