Are the projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund sustainable and do they promote the attainment of objectives of the European Regional Development Fund?

The audit was carried out in order to acquire reasonable assurance on the effectiveness of the measures taken by the Ministry of Economics and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia as the Intermediate Body in ensuring achievement of the planned objectives and results of the European Regional Development Fund co-financed projects after the final payment to the beneficiary is made. Four activities of the operational programme „Entrepreneurship and Innovations” were audited. They were selected taking into consideration (1) the ERDF contribution already disbursed, (2) proportion of completed projects in the Activity, (3) proportion of “hard” investments versus “soft” investments in certain Activity. The audit revealed that only 20% of the ERDF co-financed projects achieved the planned results, while the other projects did not achieve the planned results or did that only partially; 17% from supported beneficiaries (mostly – SMEs) are already closed or face severe difficulties an the Net turnover of every third beneficiary has decreased after receiving the ERDF support. The main recommendations were aimed at strengthening the link between objectives stated in policy planning documents and the actual project results.