The lack of due care and regularity on part of ANR in performing its duties contributed to underestimation of the State Treasury income. NIK has negatively evaluated the audited activity. The audit results show that supervision has to be enhanced, both on part of the Agency President over subordinate units and on part of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development over the Agency. The NIK audit also shed light on corruption-prone mechanisms, such as arbitrary and one-person decisions, unequal treatment of debtors, negligence and documentation gaps.
More than 8 thousand hectares were leased out against provisions of the Act on the Management of Agricultural Property of the State Treasury. The reason was that ordinances issued by subsequent Presidents of the Agency allowed the transfer of properties for the benefit of third parties without a tender (assignment). These are some of the irregularities identified on the sale: incorrectly prepared transactions, defective publication of calls for tender and lists of properties intended for sale, ignoring legal procedures, as well as putting too much decision-making burden on a single person. Credibility of buyers was not verified and contractual securities were enforced negligently.
Some irregularities also occurred with regard to lease transactions. The audit results indicated arbitrariness in selecting leaseholders and ”preferential” treatment of some of them. For instance, in some cases offers were selected that did not meet all requirements defined in the Agency’s internal regulations.
The level of overdue amounts of the State Treasury increased in the audited period. Long-term debt collection activities were not successful. The reason was insufficient protection of the interest of the State Treasury in agreements with contracting parties in the period 1992-2001 (blank bill was the only security and its value was disproportionate to the transaction value). In the middle of 2012, the overdue amounts totalled nearly PLN 180 million and were higher than the proceeds from the property management (PLN 165.3 million). The auditors also identified negligence in terms of debt collection.
