Recognized chaos? ARMA finally promised to take on the inventory of resolutions
Kyiv • UNN
Olena Duma announced an inventory of court resolutions from 2016, after criticism from the Accounting Chamber of chaos in the documentation. The inventory should create a transparent asset accounting system.
The Head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma, announced the start of a large-scale inventory of court decisions received by the agency since 2016. This step is obviously a response to the remarks of the Accounting Chamber, which, based on the audit results, criticized the agency for poor relations with law enforcement officers and chaos in documentation, writes UNN.
Details
As reported by Olena Duma, the agency has created a working group jointly with the Office of the Prosecutor General, which is to put the documents in order.
From 300 to 700 rulings are received by ARMA every day, including those that lift the arrest. The analysis and systematization of all court rulings that have accumulated over eight years of the National Agency's activities are critically important for the effective management of assets
Despite the loud statements, it is worth recalling that conducting such an inventory was one of the key recommendations of the auditors, which they provided at the end of last year, but the ARMA leadership decided to take it up only now for some reason.
According to the head of ARMA, the inventory of court decisions will allow establishing a "transparent, automated system of accounting and management of arrested assets in real time." However, so far, there is no specifics regarding this work. It is only known that the first working meeting has already taken place, at which the parties agreed on a "step-by-step action plan and mechanisms for further interaction".
The law enforcement and anti-corruption system must be a single whole. We cannot allow chaos in documentation or gaps in interaction to become an obstacle to the return of assets to the state
The statement sounds convincing, but the inventory of court decisions and interaction with the prosecutor's office were recommended by the Accounting Chamber several months ago. Therefore, the question arises: if the agency really strives for transparency, why are such basic things as accounting for rulings only being implemented now?
Let us remind you
The Accounting Chamber conducted an audit of ARMA for 2022-2023 and the first half of 2024, which showed significant problems in the management of arrested assets.
In particular, the auditors focused on the following problems:
- imperfection of mechanisms for selecting managers and appraisers of confiscated assets;
- incomplete data on assets in the register;
- unregulated relations between ARMA and the prosecutor's office and bodies of pre-trial investigation.
However, the head of ARMA Olena Duma called the audit "an unprecedented step in ensuring maximum transparency." She emphasized the record growth in the agency's revenues, the introduction of new management mechanisms and the improvement of indicators in 2024. At the same time, the head of the agency avoided comments on the problems identified during the audit.
Transparency International Ukraine, based on the audit results, pointed out the need to reform ARMA. Anti-corruption experts indicated that the agency's activities currently raise serious reservations, including from international partners.
