The head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, Olena Duma, announced the completion of the assessment of the Gulliver shopping center in Kyiv and assured that a manager would be sought for it in the near future. However, key information about the valuation of this asset is still missing from the register of seized property, which raises doubts about the transparency of the process, UNN reports.
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According to Olena Duma, Business Consulting estimated the Gulliver shopping center at UAH 7.6 billion. Information about the valuation of this asset is available only on the official ARMA website and in the social media of the agency and its head, Olena Duma. However, despite the requirement of the law, the register of seized property does not contain any information on the valuation of the Gulliver shopping center.
This fact raises serious questions for ARMA and its leadership regarding compliance with the law and transparency of the process. According to the ARMA law, all valuations of assets transferred to the agency should be publicly available in the register of seized assets. However, the lack of information about such a high-profile asset as the Gulliver shopping center calls into question the transparency of the agency's further actions.
Anti-corruption experts periodically criticize ARMA and its head Olena Duma for the incomplete register of seized property. The opening of this register was one of the conditions for Olena Duma to remain in office, so it was probably opened hastily and haphazardly just to save her "chair." This is how it is kept to this day.
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ARMA is to manage assets seized in criminal proceedings in order to preserve or increase their economic value. In order to preserve or increase the value of an asset, it must be valued and, by law, entered into the Register of Seized Assets. However, the reality looks different and a good example of this is the story of concealing the valuation of the sanatorium "Truskavets" and the garbage trucks transferred to ARMA.
Security expert Serhiy Shabovta suggests that ARMA selectively publishes information on the valuation of seized property because it is beneficial to them for corrupt reasons. In his opinion, such facts should be addressed by law enforcement.
In general, statements about the non-transparent and ineffective work of the ARMA and its head, Olena Duma, have been made repeatedly. A petition calling for the dismissal of Olena Duma from her post due to her alleged ties to pro-Russian politicians and ineffective management of seized assets has even appeared on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
In addition, all members of the ARMA Public Council have recently resigned. At the meeting, they emphasized the lack of transparency in the work of the ARMA and the fact that the agency creates artificial obstacles to the implementation of public control over its activities. They also stated that the ARMA leadership systematically ignores their appeals and does not involve them in the development of regulations, in violation of the law.