Expert: ARMA operates without public control, which creates risks for transparency of the agency's work

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency has been operating without a public council for almost three months now, a situation that is likely to benefit its head, Olena Duma, as it creates ideal conditions for possible violations. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Dmytro Hromakov, former secretary of the public council at the ARMA.

Details

Almost three months ago, all members of the ARMA Public Council decided to resign  due to systematic violations of the law by the ARMA leadership regarding public involvement in its activities. The council members stated that their appeals were regularly ignored and access to discussions of regulations was blocked. This deprived the public of the opportunity to exercise real control over the management of seized property.

According to Hromakov, even when the ARMA had a public council, the Duma avoided cooperation.

“From the very beginning, she (the Head of ARMA - ed.) was not, let's say, inclined to work transparently. Therefore, three months without a public council, when no one points out her mistakes, most likely, this indicates that she is comfortable working in a dark, non-transparent situation and, let's say, when no one pays attention to the violations that are possible in this situation. After all, the public will never know what happened during these three months. So, of course, it is always more convenient than running a transparent project,” he said.

Gromakov pointed out that from the very beginning of her work at ARMA, Olena Duma “was not set up for non-transparent work.” That is why, in his opinion, members of the public council could not fully perform their work, and their appeals were ignored. 

The expert added that it is important that the new composition of the public council is formed transparently, as it depends on whether ARMA's work will become open. 

Recall

Transparency International Ukraine emphasizedthat ARMA often has “contradictory communication from the agency or its officials, combined with populism, violation of the presumption of innocence and lack of understanding of the competence of state bodies”.

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency decided not to comment on Transparency International Ukraine's remarks about “contradictory communication” on the part of the agency's officials, and instead spoke about their “achievements” in drafting laws.

This is not the only criticism of the ARMA due to populism. Earlier, experts emphasizedthat the agency focuses more on politically high-profile cases related to oligarchs than on the effective preservation and management of transferred assets. It is worth noting that in her public speeches, Olena Duma has repeatedly emphasized the transfer of assets of oligarchs Dmytro Firtash, Mikhail Fridman and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to ARMA as one of the “achievements” of her work.