The Asset Recovery and Management Agency announced a competitive selection of a manager for the Flagman shopping center in Ivano-Frankivsk only after it was publicized, UNN reports.
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Back in October 2022, the Flagman shopping center was transferred to the management of 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 for almost two years this asset has been in the custody of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency. Since ARMA has not searched for a manager for this shopping center for almost two years, it has been generating income for its owners.
Only after journalists drew attention to this inaction of the ARMA did they start looking for a manager for the Flagman shopping center. The relevant information about the start of the competition appeared on the agency's website.
"Potential managers may be: legal entities or an individual entrepreneur registered in accordance with the procedure established by law, the purpose of which is to make a profit," the ARMA said in a statement.
It is worth noting that despite this passive management of Flagman, ARMA's head, Olena Duma, is actively trying to take control of Gulliver, one of the largest business centers in the capital. However, if the agency cannot cope with such a relatively simple task as the assessment and management of a small shopping center, what can be said about its ability to manage more complex facilities?
Is it only publicity and public pressure that can force ARMA and its head Olena Duma to do their job? The two-year delay in appointing a manager for the Flagman shopping center hints at a selective approach to the agency's work.
It was only after journalists drew attention to this situation that ARMA was able to announce a competitive selection of a manager. This situation raises the question: if the agency acts only under the pressure of publicity, how effective and transparent can it be in managing seized assets? What else remains unaddressed while the press is silent?
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Recently, a new scandal began to erupt around ARMA because the agency has been managing about 21,000 Russian-Belarusian railcars for more than two years, and during this time, no use has been found for them. Immediately after the media coverage, Olena Duma announced that ARMA had selected a manager for a batch of 436 seized railcars and was launching tender procedures for another 100 railcars.