Expert: ARMA audit findings should be the basis for rebooting the agency and conducting an investigation

The activities of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency under the current leadership raise serious questions about its effectiveness. The results of the audit of the Accounting Chamber should become the basis for the reboot of ARMA, as well as the basis for the investigation. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Vitaliy Kulyk, political expert, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies.

Let's be honest, it is difficult to talk about its effectiveness under the current leadership of the ARMA. It all started with questions about Ms. Duma's motivation and bias when she was appointed, with questions from many anti-corruption activists and experts, and with questions about the observance of the procedure and the independence of the candidate himself. But it's okay now, she's the head, and what has been done since then? Nothing,

The expert recalled that the Accounting Chamber had found huge losses from the Agency's delayed asset transfer processes.

Therefore, in my opinion, the report should definitely be the subject of an investigation, a reboot of the ARMA, not only in terms of the name of the head, but also in terms of the system - how decisions are made, how it reports, how the ARMA communicates with stakeholders,

He also drew attention to the fact that ARMA is losing courts and it seems that certain cases are "actually being merged" due to inaction or other reasons. 

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Recently, the Accounting Chamber conducted an audit of ARMA for 2022-2023 and the first half of 2024, which revealed significant problems in the management of seized assets. In particular, the auditors emphasized the following problems: imperfect mechanisms for selecting managers and appraisers of confiscated assets; incomplete data on assets in the register; unregulated relations between ARMA and prosecutors and pre-trial investigation bodies.

Transparency International Ukraine notedthat the "disappointing" conclusions of the Accounting Chamber on the results of the audit of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency should become the basis for reforming this body.

Commenting on the Accounting Chamber's report, Anastasia Radina, the head of the Verkhovna Rada's anti-corruption committee, said that the management of seized assets remains one of the biggest problems for the Asset Recovery and Management Agency. According to her, during the full-scale war, the state could have lost at least UAH 850 million in income from property management.