Populism instead of results: expert criticizes statements of the Head of the ARMA Duma

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency under the leadership of Olena Duma focuses more on politically high-profile cases related to oligarchs than on the effective preservation and management of transferred assets. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Ihor Chobitko, a lawyer and former chairman of the Public Council at the ARMA.

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Recently, the Head of ARMA Olena Duma spoke to journalists and proudly described the successes and achievements of her work. In particular, she rejected accusations that she lacked the experience to lead the ARMA, arguing that she graduated from high school with a gold medal and has "a lot of experience." Duma also responded to criticism about her political involvement and ties to traitors, saying that all the accusations are only because she is "afraid." Among her "achievements", Duma spoke about the transfer of assets of oligarchs Dmytro Firtash, Mikhail Fridman and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to the ARMA.

However, expert circles criticized Olena Duma's statements and drew attention to the lack of real results in the effective management of seized assets.

In particular, Ihor Chobitko believes that over the past year, ARMA has shown only a massive reduction in staff, which indicates serious problems in the leadership.

"I received populism, information about oligarchs - well, there are 5-6 oligarchs listed. Please tell me, is ARMA dealing with oligarchs? Is it really dealing with the thousands of assets that have been transferred to the management of all crimes? What about those whose assets they are supposed to properly store and manage, besides the oligarchs? That is, who does ARMA work for? After the interview, I had one answer: ARMA deals with populism and oligarchs in our country, nothing else," Chobitko said.

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In general, statements about the non-transparent and ineffective work of the ARMA and its head, Olena Duma, have been made repeatedly. A petition  calling for the dismissal of Olena Duma from her position due to her alleged ties to pro-Russian politiciansand ineffective management of seized assets has even appeared on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

In addition, more than three weeks ago, all members of the ARMA Public Council resigned from their positions. At the meeting, they emphasized the lack of transparency in the work of the ARMA and the fact that the agency creates artificial obstacles to the implementation of public control over its activities. They also stated that the ARMA management systematically ignores their appeals and does not involve them in the development of regulations, in violation of the law.

Ihor Chobitko, the former chairman of the public council at the ARMA, in a commentary to UNN , emphasizedthat after the self-dissolution of the public council, the ARMA was left without external control, and therefore cannot be called transparent.