Report Contents
What OIG Inspected
OIG inspected the operating environment, executive direction, policy and program implementation, resource management, and information management operations of Embassy Bucharest.
What OIG Recommends
OIG made 20 recommendations: 19 to Embassy Bucharest and 1 to the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. The Department concurred with 17 recommendations and neither agreed nor disagreed with 3 recommendations. OIG considers all 20 recommendations resolved. The Department’s response to each recommendation, and OIG’s reply, can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The Department’s formal responses are reprinted in their entirety in Appendix B.
What OIG Found
- The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission led Embassy Bucharest in a professional and collaborative manner.
- Embassy Bucharest advanced important U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives, including those related to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- Embassy Bucharest’s American Spaces program supported the embassy’s key policy objectives to strengthen Romanian support for shared democratic values.
- The Consular Section and Defense Attaché Office collaborated to provide American Citizen Services to U.S. service members in Romania.
- The embassy suffered from attrition and difficulty in hiring new local employees due to noncompetitive salaries. Vacancies in locally employed staff positions contributed to some internal control deficiencies.
- Embassy Bucharest did not have a process for coordinating foreign assistance programs managed by multiple Department of State bureaus and U.S. agencies.
- The embassy lacked updated policies and standard operating procedures across multiple sections.
- Some internal controls in general services, financial management, and human resources did not meet Department standards.
- The employee association did not have authorization to process official residence expenses for the Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission as a service under the association’s charter.
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
Embassy Bucharest should implement a coordination process for the oversight of foreign assistance programming in Romania in accordance with Department guidelines.
Embassy Bucharest should comply with Department standards for the use of public diplomacy-funded resources.
Embassy Bucharest should create a fraud prevention strategy in accordance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should maintain and destroy immigrant visa files in accordance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should implement a process to regularly review and update its management policies.
Embassy Bucharest should comply with all Department Motor Vehicle Safety Management Program standards for all chauffeurs and incidental drivers under chief of mission authority.
Embassy Bucharest should prohibit locally employed staff mechanics from servicing privately owned vehicles on U.S. government property and with U.S. government equipment, in accordance with federal regulations.
Embassy Bucharest should close out procurement files in accordance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should bring its contracting officer’s representative program into compliance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should bring its property management program into compliance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should bring its cashier operations into compliance with Department standards.
Embassy Bucharest should implement standard procedures to accurately record, track, and process employee accounts receivables in accordance with Department requirements.
The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs should provide instructions to Embassy Bucharest on the submittal of financial reports documenting its use of Ukraine supplemental funding.
Embassy Bucharest should adhere to Department standards on time and attendance reporting, including overtime.
Embassy Bucharest, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should require the Bucharest Employees Recreation Association to request authorization to update the association charter to include processing for official residence expenses payroll and expenses as an approved service.
Embassy Bucharest, in coordination with the Office of the Legal Adviser, should determine whether the reimbursement of the employee association’s concierge fees as official residence expenses is allowable according to Department guidelines and regulations.
Embassy Bucharest should implement a knowledge management process for capturing, sharing, transferring, and retaining information for managing OpenNet and non-enterprise network operations.
Embassy Bucharest should implement an application lifecycle management plan.
Embassy Bucharest should obtain approval for its OpenNet extensions or implement the use of Department enterprise laptops to access OpenNet from the official residences.
Embassy Bucharest should implement procedures for issuing non-enterprise mobile devices that comply with Department standards.