A meeting of the ARMA Board was held under the chairmanship of the Head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma. The meeting was attended by members of the Board: Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service - Nataliia Aliushyna, Business Ombudsman - Roman Waschuk, MP Oleksandr Tkachenko and ARMA's management team. In line with the challenges faced by the National Agency, the main issues on the agenda included the following two questions:

- on the settlement of the issue of remuneration of ARMA employees in 2025;

- the results of the ARMA's interregional territorial departments' activities in the first half of 2024.

At the beginning of the meeting, Head of ARMA Olena Duma focused the attention of the Board members on one of the most important issues - the agency's budget for 2025 and the salaries of ARMA employees in 2025.

Thus, the draft Law of Ukraine «On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2025», submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Reg. No. 12000 of 14.09.2024), provides for expenditures under the budget programme «Management and Administration in the Field of Finding and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes» in the amount of UAH 189 111,5 thousand. However, the total need for ARMA to perform its powers in 2025 is UAH 481 942,5 thousand.

Head of ARMA noted that the results of the National Agency's work in 2024 have already resulted in revenues of more than UAH 1.8 billion to the State Budget of Ukraine. This is just one of the indicators of ARMA's work amid other challenges during the war.

Thus, the National Agency with a renewed team ensured: the opening of the Unified State Register of Seized Assets and its content, approval of the regulatory framework for transparent rules for the selection of managers and sale of seized assets and valuation, as well as raising the status of ARMA in the international arena. The conclusion of interagency international agreements and the agency's participation in the implementation of international security treaties, along with the implementation of the Asset Recovery Strategy and Ukraine's accession to the EU, are not only the mission of ARMA, but the daily work of every civil servant of the National Agency. «Anti-corruption resilience and the fight against corruption risks should be reflected in a single state strategy and budget. When ARMA has approved and demonstrated how it is possible to work according to transparent rules, the agency should feel supported,» said Olena Duma.

According to the Head of ARMA, the agency is an anti-corruption body, so the remuneration of ARMA employees should be on a par with NAPC, NABU and SBI, which are anti-corruption agencies. «Decent working conditions are what will help us not only retain specialists but also develop their potential. Investing in human resources is an investment in the future of ARMA and our country. Therefore, the decisions we will make based on these discussions should significantly improve our work,» emphasised Olena Duma. During the consideration of the second issue, the Board members heard the reports of the South-Eastern and North-Eastern ITOs of ARMA on the results of their work in the first half of 2024. Based on the results of the hearing, the board members decided to evaluate the performance of the Head of the North-Eastern ITO in October 2024.

ARMA's Board was established in 2024 on the initiative of the Head of ARMA,
Olena Duma. The first meeting of this collegial body took place on April 4, 2023.