The Asset Recovery and Management Agency, headed by Olena Duma, has repeatedly resorted to manipulation and distortion of information. The head of the Verkhovna Rada Anti-Corruption Committee, Anastasia Radina, cited three examples that demonstrate how the agency distorts data about its activities, UNN writes.
Details
In an interview with LIGA.net, Anastasia Radina noted that maintaining a constructive dialogue with ARMA is complicated by manipulations.
She cited as an example a meeting of the Committee on European Integration, where a draft law on reforming ARMA was discussed. The committee concluded that the document adopted in the first reading does not contradict European obligations, but needs to be revised in terms of compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Association Agreement with the EU regarding the protection of personal data.
"What does ARMA communicate about this? That the draft law does not meet European obligations and that the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration decided to revise the draft law in accordance with ARMA's recommendations. There is not a single word about ARMA's recommendations in the committee's conclusion, which is posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. But ARMA allows itself such communication," Radina said.
In addition, according to her, on January 24, at a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Committee, ARMA reported that in 2024 its activities brought a little more than UAH 2 billion to the state budget.
Two weeks pass, and ARMA is already saying that they have earned 12 billion hryvnias for the budget in 2024. I have a question: where did another 10 billion hryvnias come from in two weeks? I can't find an answer to this question, I would be glad if ARMA would explain it
As another example, Radina used the fact that the anti-corruption committee asked ARMA how many assets they have and how many of them have been transferred to management? The agency reported that there are 69,000 assets in the register, and 36,000 have been transferred to management, which is about 47%.
However, a detailed analysis revealed that 20,000 of these 36,000 assets are movable property of Mezhyhirya, including bottles of wine, furniture and documents, which have no independent economic value.
And if we remove these 20,000 "Mezhyhirya assets" from ARMA's response, it turns out that they transferred 20% of the assets in their portfolio to management. Regarding ARMA's portfolio, the Accounting Chamber clearly stated that the information in the register is also incomplete, some rulings are missing. The Office of the Prosecutor General has one piece of information about how many assets were transferred to ARMA, ARMA has another, and the register has a third... This is an unacceptable situation
She added that in accordance with the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber, the new draft law provides for clear requirements for the inventory of assets and improvement of the register of seized assets in order to finally establish the real number of assets transferred to ARMA and transferred to management.
Reminder
The Accounting Chamber conducted an audit of ARMA for 2022-2023 and the first half of 2024, which showed significant problems in the management of seized assets.
In particular, the auditors focused on the following problems:
- imperfection of mechanisms for selecting managers and appraisers of confiscated assets;
- incomplete data on assets in the register;
- unsettled relations between ARMA and the prosecutor's office and pre-trial investigation bodies.
However, the head of ARMA, Olena Duma, called the audit a "unprecedented step in ensuring maximum transparency." She emphasized the record growth in the agency's revenues, the introduction of new management mechanisms and improved performance in 2024. At the same time, the head of the agency avoided commenting on the problems identified during the audit.
Transparency International Ukraine based on the results of the audit pointed out the need to reform ARMA. Anti-corruption experts pointed out that the agency's activities currently raise serious concerns, including among international partners.