Head of ARMA Duma does not comment on criticism and chooses formal responses over transparency

The head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, Olena Duma, avoided commenting on the petition for her dismissal and is expected to ignore public criticism of her work, UNN reports, citing a response to a request from ARMA.

In response to the journalists' request, which, by the way, was sent to the head of the ARMA, her deputy sent a formal response. The text says that “the responsibility for the content of the petition lies solely with its author” and that ARMA “has acted, is acting and will act in the interests of the state on the basis, within the powers and in the manner provided for by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Despite the fact that the petition raises serious questions about the effective management of seized assets and contains information about Olena Duma's alleged ties to pro-Russian politicians, the head of ARMA actually evaded a specific answer.

“Head of ARMA Olena Duma does not comment on the comments and suggestions made in the electronic petition, the content of which is the responsibility of the author (initiator) of the electronic petition,” ARMA said.

Such a response from a government agency raises doubts about its openness to criticism and willingness to take into account public opinion. 

It should be noted that such a reaction from the Head of ARMA, Olena Duma, was expected. After all, people who have encountered her in their work call Duma “a very strong-willed and strong person who will not take anyone's opinions into account.” Thus, the former secretary of the Public Council under the ARMA, Dmytro Hromakov, in a comment to UNN statedthat Olena Duma is likely to ignore the comments on the non-transparency of the agency's work made by the council members before they resigned.

It is likely that Olena Duma's lack of response to the criticism is due to the fact that certain political forces are behind it. After all, recently it became known about possible backroom agreements taking place in the ARMA under the leadership of Olena Duma. According to UNN's informed sources, a close associate of the former deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych, Andriy Portnov, lawyer and former MP Valeriy Pysarenko, regularly comes to the ARMA headquarters in Kyiv to meet personally with Olena Duma. The purpose of his visits is allegedly to discuss the transfer of large seized assets in favor of certain influential individuals, including Yulia Tymoshenko. Among these assets was, for example, the Gulliver shopping center in Kyiv.

Immediately after the publication of this material, the ARMA was quick to disassociate itself from these visits. They stated that there were no visitors with the name Valeriy Pysarenko in the log, and that Olena Duma was “not familiar” with the former MP at all.

However, they forgot to mention that their main office can be entered through four more “back” entrances and climbed through a window using  two fire escapes that have no visitor or security logs.