MINISTRY OF FINANCE INTRODUCES SPIRI SYSTEM: Accounts are being shut down for faculties, scientific research is jeopardized!

The Ministry of Finance announced that, starting in January, all faculty funds will be centralized through the SPIRI system, with existing accounts being shut down. Universities warn that such a model does not recognize the complexity of their financing and could lead to a work stoppage.

The introduction of the SPIRI program, which will control the financing of universities, at the insistence of the Ministry of Finance, and which will lead to the shutting down of faculty accounts, would not be controversial at all if faculties functioned at the level of elementary and secondary schools, where there are only two sources of income, while faculties have many more, says Goran Roglić, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, for “Vreme”.

Faculties of all universities received a letter from the Ministry of Finance on December 12 that they must shut down all accounts by the end of the year to which funds for scientific projects have been paid until now.

The ministry announces that the application of the SPIRI information system will begin on January 5, under which all faculty payments will flow into just one account, which greatly worries employees at universities, who fear that the introduction of the SPIRI system will lead to a complete financial and scientific collapse.

Significant Lack of Information

Roglić points out that when the faculty accounts are shut down, a problem will arise regarding the financing of faculties from international projects and through the Science Fund, as well as with payments arriving from other ministries.

“We have not received clear instructions from the state on how to plan funds, that is, under which position the funds should be accounted for, whether as budget or as own funds, or where to account for the funds we receive from the ministries of science, culture, and health. So, the main problem with the SPIRI program is a significant lack of information regarding how the faculties will function,” says Roglić.

He reminds us that the Science Fund has contractually obliged faculties to open sub-accounts for each project, so with the introduction of the SPIRI system, faculties would have to shut down these sub-accounts and violate the concluded agreements with the Science Fund.

He adds that representatives of the Science Fund were not present at the recently held meeting between representatives of state universities and the relevant ministries, and an answer as to why they were absent was not provided.

Problem with a Large Number of Payments

He also states that an additional problem is that, with the introduction of the SPIRI system, every university is obliged to announce the payment of every invoice greater than 100,000 dinars five days in advance and then wait for approval from the Ministry of Education.

“Our assessment is that the Ministry of Education does not have the capacity for that job, because according to a rough estimate, the University of Belgrade alone has between 1,500 and 2,000 invoices per day, and for each of these payments, a special notification must be sent to the Ministry of Education, which they must approve,” says Roglić.

What will happen on January 15?

A particular problem he mentions is that the financial services of universities have not received adequate training to work in the SPIRI system, and that appropriate interfaces have not been created between the universities’ accounting programs and the SPIRI system, so he “does not know at all whether we will be able to complete anything through SPIRI in January.”

Roglić also states that the introduction of the SPIRI system has been planned for a long time.

“We have nothing against the state controlling the spending of money, but only if it is done so that the system works. We entered the discussion about the SPIRI system back in June last year, and even then, we pointed out the problems that exist in its functioning, and our fears regarding it, but we never received a single answer,” says Roglić.

He states that the Ministry of Finance directs universities to other direct users, which would mean that faculties should discuss the matter with the ministries and the Science Fund.

“If someone enacts a law, then they should presumably also perform an analysis of the consequences of that law and regulate the functioning of that law. As a dean and as someone who has actively dealt with this, I cannot say whether, according to that law, the Ministry of Science should pay us the salary for employees on position 01 or position 04 on January 15, that is, as budget or as own funds,” Roglić concludes.