The role of SAI in the context of war: evidence from Ukraine

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to enrich the knowledge of international practitioners and academics on the role of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) under substantial crisis conditions. For this, we analyse the case of the Ukrainian SAI affected by the war. Design/methodology/approach - This is a viewpoint of Ukrainian practitioners and academics that is built on official documentation and reports, as well as experiences of practitioners directly engaged in the activities of the SAI. Findings - This study shows the role of the Ukrainian SAI before the war and discusses how it has changed during the war and what have been the main challenges. The multi-faceted challenges faced by the Ukrainian SAI (staff shortages, disrupted operations, limited access to documents, and increased focus on defence and humanitarian audits) caused a shift towards risk-based approaches, accelerated adoption of the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) and strengthened international collaboration. We forecast that the role of the SAI will become even more prominent in the future reconstruction phase. Practical implications - Using Ukrainian experience as a case, the paper exemplifies actions required to maintain public accountability and governance, even amidst significant disruption and uncertainty. Originality/value - To our knowledge, this is the first practitioners’ paper written about the experience of SAIs operating under war conditions.