In frames of the project “Strengthening the Corruption Prevention Network in the Kyrgyz Republic”, implemented by our Institute, with the financial support of the Democratic Commission of the US Embassy, monitoring of the budget transparency of state bodies and local governments was carried out. The main purpose of the monitoring was to assist government agencies in identifying violations of legislation and shortcomings in ensuring budget transparency.The monitoring was carried out by graduates of the online school of budget transparency and transparency of public procurement, based on open data and data obtained through requests from government bodies.Monitoring revealed significant difficulties in accessing open and complete information about the budget of state bodies and local governments. State bodies and local governments showed low activity in providing budget data, thereby not ensuring a sufficient level of openness and transparency, which made analysis difficult.It should be noted that even if local governments have all budget documents prepared at a high professional level, but are not made public and are not available to citizens, this may indicate a lack of transparency and accountability. Whereas transparency and accountability are the main mechanisms for preventing corruption.The complexity of the analysis was due to systemic problems in the provision of budget information, lack of complete and reliable information, fragmentation of information, limited access of citizens to information and, accordingly, lack of public control.Certain state bodies and local governments do not provide information about the civil budget on the official websites of the City Council and on the “Civil Budget” portal.Activists identified violations of the law, possible financial violations and ineffective use of budget funds in the regions. Official letters have been sent to the heads of government agencies for consideration and appropriate measures.Monitoring has shown that online open data portals on the websites of government agencies are difficult for the public to perceive and understand.The monitoring results emphasized the importance of further improving the system for ensuring budget transparency of government agencies in order to increase the transparency and efficiency of the budget process and prevent corruption, as well as the need for heads of local governments to provide information and ensure transparency using the example of the republican budget and posting relevant information on the Ministry of Finance website.
