The Head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma, met with the Head of the Polish Mission to Ukraine, Mr. Piotr Łukasiewicz. During the meeting, the parties discussed key issues of cooperation, including the Procedure for the Sale of Seized Assets Abroad developed by ARMA, strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities through effective asset management, tracing assets abroad, participation of foreigners in ARMA tenders and strengthening cooperation with the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland (CBA).
Olena Duma shared the results of the Agency's work, noting that almost 6 billion UAH of seized funds are already working for Ukraine's defense through the purchase of military bonds. An important step was the signing by the President of Ukraine on May 14 of a law that expanded ARMA's powers to purchase military bonds using seized foreign currency. As a result, ARMA has purchased 31 million USD and 6.5 million EUR worth of government bonds.
Mr. Lukasevic expressed his full support for Ukraine and emphasized the importance of ARMA's work in strengthening the country's economy and defense capabilities, noting: “It is absolutely right that the funds of criminals and representatives of the aggressor state are used to strengthen the defense and against the aggressor itself” .
The meeting also discussed the issue of foreign business participation in ARMA tenders. The Head of the National Agency informed about the settlement with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine on the participation of foreign investors. Now foreign businesses are only required to be registered in Ukraine after winning a tender. This contributes to creating an attractive investment climate and enhancing competitiveness for the country's recovery.
The ARMA leadership showed Mr. Lukasevych the results of the National Agency for Finding Assets Abroad. Olena Duma spoke about the detection of assets transferred outside the country in the amount of more than $100 billion in criminal proceedings, including in Poland. A specific first case of returning funds to Ukraine is the amount of more than 5 million EUR seized on an account in a Polish bank. The National Agency has already prepared relevant requests to its Polish colleagues.
The Head of ARMA emphasized the priority of protecting property rights in the event of the seizure being canceled, which the Agency adheres to and will guarantee to foreign partners.
A key topic of discussion was the strengthening of cooperation between ARMA and the CBA of Poland. Deputy Head of ARMA Grigol Katamadze informed about the preparations to sign an international interagency agreement between the agencies, which will significantly enhance cooperation. The Head of the Polish Mission to Ukraine assured that he would support the signing of this document as soon as possible.
In September, Andrii Pozniak, Advisor to the Head of ARMA, and Yuliia Kvitko, Acting Head of ARMA Communications Department, held the first working meeting with their Polish counterparts at the CBA headquarters in Warsaw, Poland.
