For almost two years, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency has failed to evaluate and find a manager for the small Flagman shopping center in Ivano-Frankivsk. At the same time, the head of the agency, Olena Duma, is making every effort to gain control over the 35-story Gulliver Business Center in the capital. UNN tried to figure out why the head of the ARMA has such a selective approach to asset management.
Back in October 2022, the Flagman shopping center was transferred to ARMA. This is a small three-story shopping center in Ivano-Frankivsk owned by Euroinvestbud LLC, a company controlled by residents of the Russian Federation. It was recognized as material evidence in a criminal proceeding and has been in the custody of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency for almost two years.
The most interesting thing is that during this time, ARMA did not evaluate the shopping center and did not appoint a manager. The shopping center continues to operate and generates income for its owners.
This situation raises serious questions about the competence and effectiveness of ARMA and its head, Olena Duma. If the agency cannot cope with a relatively simple task such as the assessment and management of a small shopping center, what can be said about its ability to manage more complex facilities?
However, despite the failure to manage Flagman, Olena Duma is actively trying to gain control of Gulliver, one of the largest business centers in the capital. This raises suspicions that the ARMA leadership is being selective. After all, such a large-scale desire to control Gulliver contrasts with the passivity in relation to less significant assets, such as the shopping center in Ivano-Frankivsk.
These suspicions are reinforced by numerous reports of possible ties between Olena Duma and pro-Russian politicians. This makes us wonder whether her actions are part of the fulfillment of a certain order. And if so, what consequences will this have for the state?
Such suspicions significantly weaken the credibility of the agency, both as an institution and as its head, Olena Duma, who has been called "the mother of ARMA with balls of steel"and who should act exclusively in the interests of the state. If the agency turns into a tool for fulfilling private orders, it jeopardizes the very idea of effective and transparent management of state assets. Now more than ever, it is important for Ukraine to have reliable institutions that can effectively protect national interests and not play into the hands of traitors.
Recall
Recently, the ARMA became embroiled in a high-profile scandal because it failed to sell the Royal Romance yacht, which belonged to former MP Viktor Medvedchuk, a suspect in high treason, in two years.
After researching the topic, we found out that the main delay with the sale of the yacht of the traitorous ex-MP arose because the head of ARMA, Olena Duma, had been preparing amendments to the legislation on 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.
Former MP Ihor Mosiychuk believes that ARMA head Olena Duma acted in Medvedchuk's interests by delaying the sale of his yacht. He calls for an investigation into whether this was intentional or due to incompetence.