site.btaBulgarian Audit Office Vice President Holds Meetings in Paris During OECD Forum

During the 2026 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum in Paris, Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) Vice President Margarita Nikolova held a series of meetings focusing on the audit institution’s experience in ensuring control over the management of public funds, its new responsibilities in measures against abuse of power, and the forthcoming introduction of artificial intelligence as an assistant for detecting irregularities and preventing fraud in audit work, the BNAO said on Tuesday.

The Global Forum was opened by Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). It is attended by leaders from around the world, representatives of the World Bank, the European Commission and prosecution services, the executive branch and supreme audit institutions, NGOs and business organizations, major companies and others.

The forum provides an annual platform for sharing experience and ideas for strengthening integrity and improving anti‑corruption policies in order to increase the resilience of democratic societies. This year’s event is proceeding under the motto “The Integrity Advantage: Powering Competitiveness and Prosperity.”

Nikolova discussed with other forum participants Bulgaria’s preparation for accession to the OECD, which is one of the country’s foremost foreign policy priorities. Among the steps being taken in this direction is the strengthening of the effectiveness of anti‑corruption measures. The BNAO is becoming one of the main factors in this, the press release said. In addition to auditing public funds, through which it ensures good governance and accountability in the public sector, since February 2026, following an amendment to the National Audit Office Act, it has also been performing part of the functions of the abolished Anti‑Corruption Commission. Its new responsibilities include implementing the state’s policy on corruption prevention; receiving and verifying asset and interest declarations of persons holding public office and maintaining a public register of them; and receiving and processing reports from citizens with evidence of conflicts of interest involving public office holders, which are also entered in a register.

Further new responsibilities lie ahead for the BNAO under anti‑corruption measures, after on March 19 the National Assembly adopted the Transparency and Integrity in Governance Act. A key part of it is the establishment of a Transparency Register under the BNAO, in which individuals and organizations carrying out lobbying activities will be recorded.

The delegation led by Nikolova to Paris also includes Velislava Valkova, BNAO Director of the Directorate for Compliance Audits of Financial Management.