The legal and organizational principles of ARMA's functioning are determined by the Law of Ukraine "On the National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes" (hereinafter - the Law). ARMA in its activities is guided by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, decrees of the President of Ukraine and resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, adopted in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Regulation National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes, approved by the Resolution of the CMU dated 11.07.2018 No. 613 (hereinafter - the Regulation).

In accordance with the Law and Regulation, it is determined that in the case of receipt of a prosecutor's decision issued within the limits of the powers granted by law, as well as receipt of a court decision adopted by him, which has entered into force, canceling the seizure of funds or bank metals placed on ARMA accounts, ARMA shall transfer the relevant funds and the interest accrued on them to the account of their legal owner within three working days from the day he provided information about the details of the account.

In this way, the Agency provides the legal owner not only with the preservation of funds, but also with an increase in their effective value, but on the condition that there is a court decision that has entered into force and that it is received by ARMA in accordance with the procedure established by law. 

Recently, there are many cases when the lawyers/representatives of the owners and/or the owners themselves send applications for the return of funds to ARMA with copies of court decisions, which:

• certified by the applicants/representatives and do not contain information about entry into force
• are not in the Unified state register of court decisions
• do not have entries in the register of court decisions about the date of entry into legal force, which is provided for by the Regulation on the automated system of court document circulation, approved by the Council of Judges of Ukraine on 02.04.2015 No. 25

In addition, there are cases when information about bank account details is provided by the applicant without being certified by the relevant banking institution in which the specified account is opened.

ARMA considers each appeal and provides the necessary clarifications regarding the specific reasons for non-compliance with the procedure provided for by law.

After providing a reasoned answer to the applicant, we have received a large number of requests and complaints from lawyers regarding the non-fulfillment of the demand for the return of funds within the period stipulated by law, instead of bringing the documents sent to ARMA into compliance with the requirements of the law.

In the case of providing a complete set of documents with the availability of information about the entry into force of a court decision, ARMA transfers the funds to the legal owner within the period specified by law, with interest accrued by the bank for the entire period of management, ensuring an increase in their economic value.

Therefore, we emphasize once again that the receipt of any court decision that has entered into legal force, by which the seizure of funds has been canceled, must:

• must be received ARMA from the court with the corresponding cover letter
• be registered in the Unified state register of court decisions
• have an entry in the register of court decisions about the date of entry into force
• information on bank details must be certified by the relevant banking institution
• the statement of person must be signed by the QES (qualified electronic signature) or notarized in order to identify the presence of the legal owner, not the "probable owner" and/or the owner's representative.

We would like inform you about the return of property to legal entities whose owners are the russian federation and/or citizens of the russian federation, as well as persons - citizens of the russian federation, except for those who live in Ukraine legally. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution №187 dated 03.03.2022 "On ensuring the protection of national interests in future lawsuits of the state of Ukraine in connection with the military aggression of the russian federation" which introduced a moratorium (ban) on the execution, including by force, of monetary and other obligations for which the creditors (collectors) are the russian federation or persons associated with the aggressor state, including legal entities created and registered in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, the ultimate beneficial owner, member or participant that has a share in the statutory 10 or more percent of the capital of which is the russian federation or a citizen of the russian federation. In this case, ARMA will always ensure national interests and will not return property to persons associated with the aggressor country.