Abstract:

The authors formulated a hypothesis about a significant increase in expenditures on translation services in public finance sector units, which is related to the need to support Ukrainian immigrants in the context of the mass exodus associated with Russia's aggression. The aim of this study is to verify this hypothesis by analyzing changes in public expenditures since 2022, when the war began. The authors utilized budget classification as a tool for monitoring Poland's expenditures on assistance to Ukrainian citizens. The budget classification, as a key tool for public finance management, is described in the context of its role in planning and monitoring expenditures. The existence of paragraph 438, which groups expenditures for the purchase of translation services, was used in this analysis. The study covered 2,873 local government units, indicating that the classification structure introduced by the legislator was affected. As a result of the new classification divisions introduced by the legislator to monitor expenditures on assistance to Ukrainian citizens, the ability to monitor unit expenditures on translation services has been lost. The conducted research concluded that the applied research methodology does not allow confirming the stated hypothesis. Moreover, it was determined that dysfunctions in the structure of budget classification do not allow for conducting research on the directions of fund expenditures in many cases. This affects the transparency and efficiency of public finance management.