Parliament unblocked the signing of the law on ARMA reform
Kyiv • UNN
The Verkhovna Rada unblocked the signing of the law on reforming the Asset Recovery and Management Agency by rejecting the blocking resolution. This bill is a key requirement for receiving financial assistance from the EU.
The Verkhovna Rada, at its meeting on Tuesday, unblocked the signing of the law on reforming the Asset Recovery and Management Agency. This was reported by People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, according to UNN.
Details
On June 18, the Parliament supported in general draft law No. 12374-d on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the National Agency of Ukraine for Identification, Tracing and Management of Assets obtained from corruption and other crimes, and the improvement of asset management mechanisms, with 253 votes. The document was to be signed by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, and then by the President.
However, a few days later, a draft resolution from the "Batkivshchyna" party deputies, led by Yulia Tymoshenko, to cancel the Rada's decision to adopt the draft law appeared on the Verkhovna Rada website. This blocked the signing of the document - at least until its consideration.
Today, at the meeting, the Rada considered this draft resolution and did not support it, thereby unblocking the signing of the reform law.
The signing of two laws for which there was a "blocking" resolution was unblocked: No. 12374-d-P of the law on ARMA reform (53); No. 11469-P1-2 of the law on dual citizenship (50)
Recall
Draft law No. 12374-d is one of the key requirements for receiving the next tranche of financial assistance within the EU's Ukraine Facility program and was supposed to be adopted before the end of Q1 2025.
The document, in particular, improves the procedures for the competitive selection of the head of the agency, the procedure for independent external audit of ARMA, and also introduces transparent and clear procedures for selecting managers of seized assets. It was supported by the relevant anti-corruption committee, public activists, and international partners.
The main public opponent of the relevant document was only the current head of ARMA, Olena Duma. For several months in a row, she sabotaged the draft law, probably due to fears of losing her position.
However, against the backdrop of scandals surrounding the ARMA leadership, including the purchase of a car in the top configuration and silence regarding a possible conflict of interest involving Deputy Katamadze, the public demand for agency reform is growing.