Estonian auditors: Mobilization stockpile requires systematic approach

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

Formation of the material resources needed to achieve the desired defense capability requires considerably stronger coordination, Estonia's National Audit Office said in its conclusions of an audit of the formation of mobilization stockpile.

The audit office at the same time acknowledged that the new long-term National Defense Development Plan pays attention to many of the problems highlighted in the audit. Firstly, the long-term goals in the development plan now comply with financial forecasts and the plan also sets the priorities according to which wartime units will be equipped with material resources during the plan period. However, the plan does not give enough attention to the involvement of civil resources, the auditors note.

According to the audit report, the Military Defense Development Plan for 2009-2018 that formed the basis for planning the material resources required for mobilization was impossible to complete from the moment of its approval due to the recession. Despite this the planned goals of defense capability were not adjusted.

Owing to the lack of realistic long-term goals, no long-term procurement plans were made in 2009-2012 and equipment was acquired on the basis of plans made for one year. There were also no clear agreements about the defense capacities to be developed as priorities. As a result, equipment was often procured and allocated to units on the principle that each wartime unit should have something without giving attention to the unit's capability to perform its operative duties in the planned extent.

The auditors drew attention to the lack of a national mobilization register that would provide a consolidated view of how well wartime units are manned and equipped. The statutes of a central register were approved already at the end of 2004 but development of the register has been on hold for several years.

The defense forces are unaware of the extent of civil resources they can count on, which makes it difficult to plan the resources that must be acquired for the defense forces themselves, the audit office said.

The audit did not identify any circumstances indicating serious problems in the storage, usability and inspection of stockpiles. "Annual stocktakes of stockpiles and inspections of readiness work well in the defense forces and generally meet their objectives. This guarantees that existing stockpiles are preserved and usable. However, the defense forces have no overview of unnecessary stockpiles, as this aspect is not assessed during stocktakes," the report reads.

Basing on the findings of the audit, the National Audit Office recommended that the minister of defense specify the priorities arising from the objectives of the National Defense Development Plan 2013-2022, that is, the order in which, the level to which and the time when priority wartime units are equipped to guarantee the performance of their operative duties when necessary. Equipment priorities must be the direct input for the preparation and updating of a long-term procurement plan and carrying out procurements on the basis of this plan.

The audit office is also of the opinion that it is necessary to establish a reporting system that would give the Ministry of Defense regular and up-to-date overviews of the formation readiness of wartime units.

Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu agreed with the main conclusions of the audit. In his words, work to solve most problems has already started and the recommendations of the National Audit Office overlap with the activities planned for the implementation of the National Defense Development Plan 2013-2022.