The delays by the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) in selling the Royal Romance yacht have caused a wave of outrage and suspicion of possible assistance by the agency's leadership to former MP Viktor Medvedchuk, who is suspected of treason. The delay in the process of selling this asset raises reasonable questions about the motives and actions of the head of the ARMA, Olena Duma, UNN writes.
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Recently it became known that the ARMA cannot sell one of Viktor Medvedchuk's most expensive seized assets, the Royal Romance yacht, because a court in Croatia has canceled the seizure of this property.
Having investigated the topic, managed to find out that the main delay in the sale of the yacht of the traitorous ex-MP was due to the fact that the new head of the ARMA, Olena Duma, had been preparing changes to the legislation for the sale of foreign assets for almost six months. At the same time, at the time of her appointment to the ARMA, the Prosecutor General's Office, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had already prepared a draft of the changes, but Duma categorically rejected it.
In this regard, the ARMA only launched a tender on March 20, 2024, to select a seller to sell the yacht, and a month later it finally selected the winner. It is worth noting that the selection of the winner took place a month before the expiration of the maximum period of seizure of this asset, which made its sale virtually impossible.
The question arises as to why Elena Duma actually refused to sell such an expensive asset, since the successful sale of Medvedchuk's yacht could not only emphasize the agency's efficiency, but also add "points" to the head of the agency herself.
The answer to this may be very simple. After all, if you ask yourself: "Who benefits from the yacht not being sold?" The answer is one and obvious - Viktor Medvedchuk. It is possible that Elena Duma could have acted under the influence of or in agreement with Medvedchuk to delay the sale of the yacht.
The head of the ARMA may not have acted under the influence of Medvedchuk himself, but rather other persons interested in preserving Medvedchuk's assets, but the result of her actions is obvious.
Former MP Ihor Mosiychuk is surethat the head of the ARMA, Olena Duma, definitely acted in Medvedchuk's interests, but he calls on law enforcement to investigate whether she did so intentionally.
"First of all, I believe that Ms. Duma is directly responsible for the story that arose with Medvedchuk's yacht. Secondly, I believe that Ms. Duma acted in the interests of Medvedchuk," the former MP said in a commentary to UNN.
The option that the delay could have been the result of negligence or incompetence on the part of the ARMA leadership should not be dismissed.
"Law enforcement agencies should assess the Duma's actions. It's 50-50: either she acted in Medvedchuk's interests, or she acted in her own interests and just "pushed through" everything, negligence, as they say," lawyer Serhiy Lysenko said in a commentary to UNN.
However, not everyone agrees that it could have been just official negligence on the part of Olena Duma. In particular, political scientist Viktor Bobirenko believesthat the delay in the sale of the yacht could have been motivated by financial reward.
"I am not a court to pass a verdict, but it is obvious and unambiguous to me that ARMA's actions were motivated. We can discuss who benefits (from the yacht not being sold - ed.) - Medvedchuk or his godfather Putin. Let the law enforcement agencies investigate this. I can only assume that these people are doing this because they are motivated by money... For six months she made offers, just think about it! Six months! Yeah, it's just negligence," he said in a comment to UNN.
But whatever Olena Duma's motives, the failure to sell the yacht leads to a decrease in public confidence in the actions of the ARMA as an institution, and at most, to a loss of revenue for the state budget that could be used for the needs of the Ukrainian military.
Therefore, it is obvious that law enforcement officers should investigate the actions of ARMA Head Olena Duma in delaying the sale of Medvedchuk's yacht to determine whether the actions were deliberate and whether they were intended to further the interests of the traitor. If the facts of deliberate delay or promotion of Medvedchuk's interests are found, the head of the ARMA and other employees of the agency should be held accountable, including criminal liability and dismissal.
In addition, based on the results of the investigation, it is necessary to introduce stricter mechanisms to control ARMA's activities, including external audits and inspections to ensure transparency and efficiency in the management of seized assets. After all, as it turned out , ARMA has never conducted a full-fledged external audit.