On February 20, the third meeting of the ARMA Board was held under the chairmanship of Olena Duma, Head of the National Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). The event was attended by members of the Board, senior staff of the central office and heads of interregional territorial departments.
The key issue of the meeting was to discuss the results of ARMA's activities in 2024.
Among the key results:
According to Olena Duma, 2024 was a landmark year for ARMA. The National Agency not only opened for the first time, but also successfully modernized the Unified State Register of Seized Assets and significantly strengthened its institutional capacity. In the second half of 2023, the National Agency began the transformation of ARMA and continued it throughout 2024.
“EDRAA was an impetus for transparency. It's good when MPs start to see figures on what has been done and what hasn't. Before, there was nothing to talk about except corruption and demands to open up and make the rules transparent. At the same time, history writes dates and pages. And I'll just add that our success is that we have not only opened it, but also inventoried it, talked openly about problems, and improved it. The registry has already been recognized as a critical infrastructure facility. We not only withstand enemy attacks, but we also skillfully record them,” said ARMA Head Olena Duma.
Sale of seized assets
Asset management
Legal department
International cooperation
Grigol Katamadze, Deputy Head for European Integration, presented the results of the National Agency's international activities.
For the first time since ARMA's establishment, agreements have been signed with similar agencies in Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Malta, Libya, Romania and Moldova. More than 20 more agreements are in the process of preparation and are being approved by other governments.
For the first time in the years of ARMA's existence, the procedure for the sale of assets abroad was not only approved, but also global auction houses were selected as winners in a live auction and under European procedures.
Digital transformation
Special attention was paid to the digital transformation of the agency. OlehVashchenok, Head of the Digital Transformation Department, presented an ambitious plan to build a backup data center and create a comprehensive cybersecurity system. The Board supported the proposed initiatives to further modify the EDRAA and approved the digitalization plan for 2025.
Funding
An important issue was the discussion of ARMA's funding for 2025. The Department of Accounting and Financial and Economic Support (Svitlana Sadova) presented an analysis of funding needs and key areas of budget allocation. It was emphasized that in just one month of the agency's work, the annual budget needs of the agency were covered. Despite the positive changes to the state budget, ARMA will be able to receive most of the funds allocated for the agency only in December 2025, as the Ministry of Finance proves. This makes it impossible to recruit the necessary staff according to the approved staffing table and, accordingly, to process, review and select more effective managers, which will have a positive impact on increasing budget revenues and supporting the defense forces.
The National Agency, having started its transformation in 2023 and introduced transparent rules, should be able to provide the body with professional employees.
Interregional Territorial Departments
During the review of the results of the work of interregional territorial offices, the Board heard reports from the heads of the Southern, Central and Central-Western MTUs. Based on the results of the reports, the Board positively assessed the work of the territorial divisions and approved their reports.
Each presentation will be highlighted separately as an example of a highly professional attitude to work in a government agency with high responsibility. The complexity of working with seized assets in different regions deserves separate coverage, as the state has benefited from the contribution of ARMA's employees from Odesa-Kyiv-Vinnytsia to Ivano-Frankivsk, in particular in: tracing and strengthening cooperation with law enforcement agencies, daily inspections of assets in the field, recording violations or damage, assistance in resolving state issues: compensation or calculation of losses, disposal or vice versa recovery, description and conclusions, initiatives to develop regulations.
Following the meeting, the Board approved the ARMA's activity report for 2024 and identified the agency's priority areas for 2025, including
- improving the Register and strengthening digital transformation,
- expanding international cooperation, concluding international agreements that strengthen Ukraine and returning assets to Ukraine from abroad
- improving the efficiency of seized assets management, including a comprehensive approach from pre-seizure planning to the sale of sanctioned assets managed by ARMA in criminal proceedings to ensure uninterrupted budget revenues and avoid additional burden on other agencies and the budget.
