The Asset Recovery and Management Agency continues to deny any involvement in possible corruption. This time, it is about the regular meetings of former MP Valeriy Pysarenko with the head of ARMA Olena Duma. In response to UNN's request, the agency denied that the former MP regularly visits their office, and that Duma herself allegedly "does not know" him at all. However, this response looks more like an attempt to avoid difficult questions than a refutation.
The day before, UNN published an article about possible backroom deals taking place in the ARMA under the leadership of Olena Duma. According to informed sources, a close associate of the former deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych, Andriy Portnov, lawyer and former MP Valeriy Pysarenko, regularly comes to the ARMA headquarters in Kyiv to meet personally with Olena Duma. The purpose of his visits is allegedly to discuss the transfer of large seized assets in favor of certain influential individuals, including Yulia Tymoshenko. Among such assets was, for example, the capital's Gulliver shopping center.
Immediately after the publication of this article, ARMA was quick to disassociate itself from these visits.
"We would like to inform you that the admission of visitors to the ARMA premises is carried out in accordance with the Instruction on the organization of the access control regime in the National Agency for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes... According to the entries in the journal, started on January 19, 2023, from July 1, 2023 to September 27, 2024, there were no registration records with the person named in your request under the name "Valeriy Pysarenko", - said in the ARMA response to the request of UNN.
It is worth noting that Valeriy Pysarenko himself gave a very similar answer in a comment to UNN. During a conversation with journalists, he insisted that it is difficult for anyone to come to a government agency unnoticed, because information about this should be indicated in the visitor log. Pysarenko even advised to contact the ARMA and ask for information from the visit log. At the same time, it is no secret that very often VIP guests come to any body without an appointment.
The ARMA also emphasized that the head of the ARMA, Olena Duma, "does not know" Valeriy Pysarenko.
"Accordingly, the information about the meetings of the Head of ARMA Olena Duma with the said person is not verified and does not correspond to reality," the response to the request reads.
However, such similar denials have already become a common practice in political circles, when the media exposes alleged backroom deals.
In addition, the head of ARMA, Olena Duma, has repeatedly drawn criticism for her transparency and political independence. Her ties to individuals suspected of collaborating with pro-Russian forces, including Oleh Kulinich, only add to the doubts. Given all of this, it is hard to believe that the ARMA under Duma's leadership is really working for the benefit of the state, and not at the behest of certain political or business interests.
Therefore, it seems that the ARMA's regular denials are just an attempt to avoid public attention and real answers.