• Contracting authorities of the national defence system assessed during the audit, lacked an average of 19 percent of public procurement specialists each year (nearly one in five positions was vacant). The majority of vacant positions (88 percent) were at the Defence Resources Agency.
• In organisations conducting centralised procurement, an average of 48 percent of employees involved in procurement did not hold a public procurement specialist certification. Although not mandatory, this certification confirms the competence of an employee engaged in public procurement.
• In all 12 contracting authorities assessed, public procurement plans were amended an average of 14 times per year, although, in the auditors’ opinion, some of the needs could have been planned in advance.
• Controls over high-risk procurements are insufficient: 6 of the 12 organisations evaluated did not assess all high-risk procurements, and 24 of the 36 procurements reviewed were found to be noncompliant with legal requirements.

Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė presented the results of the audit “Funds allocated to the national defence system for the procurement of goods, services, and works for 2021–2025.”
  
Over the past five years, the value of public procurements carried out within the national defence system amounted to EUR 10.8 billion. However, the national defence system is facing this growing volume of procurements with a shortage of public procurement specialists and a lack of their expertise.
  
 
An audit conducted by the National Audit Office of “Funds allocated to the national defence system for the procurement of goods, services, and works for 2021–2025” revealed that nearly one-fifth of the public procurement specialist positions in the organisations assessed remain unfilled, and some of the employees carrying out procurements do not hold a public procurement specialist certification that would confirm their high level of competence.
 
“When we talk about defence funding, the focus is usually on money. However, money alone does not turn plans into actual capabilities. This requires people who are able to professionally organise procurements, manage risks, and ensure that the resources needed by the armed forces are delivered on time. As defence investments grow, the expertise of public procurement specialists is becoming one of the most important factors for success. Therefore, it is essential to act without delay to build the capabilities needed to meet the system’s requirements,” says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

One of the biggest challenges is the shortage of specialists and appropriate qualifications
  
In the organisations assessed for 2021–2025, an average of 84 public procurement specialist positions were established, but by the end of the year, there was a shortage of approximately 19 percent of specialists. The majority of the unfilled positions (88 percent) were at the Defence Resources Agency. According to the agency’s data, recruitment processes often failed due to a lack of candidates or because applicants did not meet the minimum score requirement. Due to the chronic shortage of public procurement specialists, procurement processes may take longer, increasing the likelihood of errors and the risk that the army will not receive the necessary resources on time.
  
It was also found that, in many cases, public procurement within the national defence system is carried out by employees who do not hold public procurement specialist certificates. Although a public procurement specialist certification is not mandatory for all employees, it confirms the competence of the employee conducting public procurement, and starting in 2023, at least one member of the Public Procurement Commission must hold such a certificate. An assessment of the selected public procurement cases revealed that in all cases, the commission included a member who held the certificate.

However, between 2023 and 2025, an average of 48 percent of employees who conducted public procurement did not hold the certificate. In the auditors’ opinion, contracting authorities seeking high-quality procurement should rely on specialists who hold the certificate. When procurement is carried out by employees who do not hold a certificate confirming their public procurement competencies, the risk of compromised procurement quality and inconsistent application of legal requirements increases.
  
Procurement plans are constantly changing, and risks are not always assessed
  
The audit revealed that insufficient attention is paid to procurement planning and risk management within the national defence system. In the organisations assessed, procurement plans were changed an average of 14 times per year. The procurement plans of some contracting authorities assessed during the audit increased several-fold over the course of a year; for example, the value of the Defence Resources Agency’s 2023 procurement plan increased 36-fold. The plans were amended due to changes in the geopolitical situation, new needs, the receipt of additional funding, the repetition of failed procurements, and other factors. However, in the auditors’ opinion, some of these needs could have been planned in advance. In the auditors’ view, the fact that procurement groups significant in terms of both the number and value of procurements were not planned at the beginning of the year indicates that the process for identifying procurement needs is not functioning well enough, hinders targeted procurement management, and increases the risk of procurement delays and insufficient competition in procurements.
 
Control mechanisms for high-risk procurements did not function in all cases. Six out of the 12 organisations assessed did not evaluate all procedures included on the lists of high-risk procurements, even though these procurements should be the focus of the most attention. Of the 36 procurements selected, 24 were found to be noncompliant with legal requirements, and 17 procurements were found to have non-compliances of high or medium significance.

What the National Audit Office recommends
  
The National Audit Office recommended that the Ministry of National Defence establish a permanent program for the professional development and certification of public procurement specialists in the national defence system, implement a system to motivate specialists, and provide opportunities to engage experts when planning and conducting procurements, and to ensure preventive controls for all high-risk procurements.
  
To ensure consistent management and accessibility of procurement data, it was recommended to consolidate procurement data management and ensure interfaces with other information systems relevant to procurement management. It is also recommended to establish procurement efficiency indicators and create conditions for an objective assessment of the results of the public procurement model.
  
In the auditors’ assessment, as defence funding increases, the public procurement system must ensure not only the prompt supply of military equipment but also that investments amounting to billions are managed professionally, transparently, and efficiently.

State aid intended for employees of bankrupt companies must reach people quickly, but it is equally important that it be calculated and allocated correctly. An audit of the 2025 accounts of the Guarantee Fund conducted by the National Audit Office revealed that employees of bankrupt companies may be receiving higher payments from the fund than they are entitled to.

The auditors found that the insolvency administrators of a bankrupt employer, when submitting employees’ claims for approval to courts or creditors’ meetings, may not be verifying them properly, and the amounts are being presented without deducting applicable taxes. Such errors may not only result in employees receiving higher payments than they are entitled to, but may also harm the interests of other creditors. 

“It is the state’s duty to ensure that employees who have lost their jobs due to their employer’s insolvency receive the benefits to which they are entitled in a timely manner. However, it is equally important that this assistance be allocated fairly, reasonably, and accurately. When the system allows for the approval of unfounded claims, it puts at risk not only public funds but also public trust and the legitimate interests of other creditors. Therefore, transparency and reliable oversight in this area are essential,” says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

The audit showed that this is not an isolated problem

During the control procedures carried out last year, SODRA identified inaccurately calculated amounts in nearly one out of every three cases and contacted insolvency administrators or the courts to have the data corrected.

Although this prolonged the payment deadlines, the additional verification helped prevent an average potential overpayment of 1,100 euros per employee (about 38 percent of the amount approved for each person). These are very significant figures, considering that more than 9,000 people received such payments last year alone.

The cause of the risk: some control measures were discontinued

The National Audit Office notes that, following changes to the procedures for administering the Guarantee Fund effective from 6 January 2026, the practice of conducting additional checks on data submitted on the basis of court rulings and resolutions of creditors’ meetings was discontinued. As a result, risks previously managed regarding potential overpayments are no longer fully under control.

In the auditors’ view, it is essential to ensure that employees’ claims are determined and confirmed consistently and accurately throughout the entire process—from the assessment conducted by the insolvency administrator to the allocation of payments from the Guarantee Fund.

The goal is to prevent potential overpayments

The National Audit Office recommended that SODRA and the Ministry of Social Security and Labour take measures to ensure the management of risks associated with inaccurate employee claims and to reduce the likelihood of potential overpayments in the future.

While long-term solutions are being sought and legal regulations are being refined, it was agreed to implement a temporary risk management measure - additional data verification against the Register of Persons Insured under State Social Insurance and the Recipients of State Social Insurance Benefits. If necessary, the administrator of the Guarantee Fund will contact insolvency administrators, courts, or creditors’ meetings regarding adjustments to planned benefit payments.

The National Audit Office emphasises that active cooperation among all institutions involved in the process is essential for a long-term solution to the problem. To ensure that state guarantees for employees are implemented accurately and transparently, the involvement of the Chamber of Insolvency Administrators, the Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation, and Insolvency Management Service, and the National Court Administration is crucial.

• Over the two years of the civil service reform, the average salary increased in nearly all municipal administrations - by about 11 percent annually - so this growth was more consistent than in national-level institutions, where it reached 15 percent in 2024 and 8 percent in 2025.
• The gap between the highest and lowest average salary in municipal administrations did not narrow; on the contrary, it increased by 60 euros from 2023 to 2025.
• The average salary remains highest in the administrations of large cities and resort municipalities, while in some small municipalities it still does not even reach 2,000 euros.

The civil service reform in the area of remuneration, which has been underway since 2024, aims to create a more competitive and flexible remuneration system. The “Overview of Changes in the Number of Employees and Salaries in Public Administration Institutions” conducted by the National Audit Office shows that, over the two years of the reform, salaries in municipal administrations (for both civil servants and employees under employment contracts) have grown more consistently than in national-level institutions. However, this growth did not reduce the salary disparities among the municipalities themselves.
  
“The civil service reform was intended to give institutions greater freedom in managing their remuneration systems and to enhance competitiveness by attracting and retaining the necessary skills. We see that salaries in municipal administrations have risen steadily, but the disparities between municipalities have not narrowed. Therefore, it is important to assess not only the overall growth in salaries, but also whether the available human resources management tools help address the needs of specific institutions—especially where salaries remain the lowest,” says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
  
The highest average salaries in 2025 were found in the administrations of major cities and resort municipalities. For example, in the administrations of Vilnius City and Neringa Municipality, the average salary exceeded 3,5 thousand euros before taxes. Meanwhile, in some smaller municipalities - such as the Lazdijai and Šakiai district administrations - the average salary did not even reach 2,000 euros. It is important to note that the gap in average salaries between municipalities actually widened over the course of two years: in 2023 it was approximately 1,714 euros, and in 2025 - 1,774 euros.
  
Although the overall trend is positive—the number of administrations where the average salary was less than 2,000 euros has decreased from 31 (in 2023) to 8 (in 2025), while the number of those reaching or exceeding the 3,000-euro threshold has increased from 2 to 7 - municipal administrations with lower salaries continue to rank among the least competitive in terms of salaries. The overview shows that in some lower-paying municipal administrations, salaries grew faster than the average, but this was not enough to significantly change their position in the overall context of municipal remuneration.
  
For example, in 2023, the administrations with lowest average monthly salary - Ignalina (+40 percent), Joniškis (+30 percent), and Visaginas (+28 percent) - saw growth that exceeded the overall average for municipal administrations (22 percent), while growth in the Lazdijai District was slower (+18 percent). Nevertheless, in 2025, the lowest average salary remained in smaller municipalities, such as the Lazdijai District (1,826 euros), the Šakiai District (1,883 euros), and Visaginas (1,943 euros).
  
Data from the overview conducted by the National Audit Office shows that in municipalities, as in public administration institutions in general, no direct link was found between changes in the number of employees and salary growth. Salaries grew at a similar rate both in administrations where the number of employees decreased and in those where it increased. For example, in the Jonava District, the average salary rose by 37 percent while the number of employees fell by 10 percent; in the city of Klaipėda, the opposite was true—the average salary rose by 36 percent while the number of employees increased by 4 percent.
  
The data and results of the overview, presented in an interactive tool, allow for the analysis of trends in salaries and changes in the number of employees: Microsoft „Power BI“.