Transparency, openness and efficiency have become the key principles of ARMA's work over the past year. ARMA is one of the key bodies of the anti-corruption infrastructure authorized to formulate and implement state policy in the field of management of seized assets. Despite the difficult reputation of the National Agency, earned in the 7 years since its establishment, the new team has managed to restore confidence in the institution among international partners and the public over the past year. ARMA continues to improve and strengthen its cooperation with colleagues from NABU, NACP, SSU, SBI, ESB and other state agencies.

This was stated by the Head of the ARMA Olena Duma at the opening of the panel discussion “Anti-Corruption Resilience of Ukraine: Challenges and Mechanisms to Ensure” at the VIII Kharkiv International Legal Forum.

The Head of the National Agency emphasized the radical change in approaches to the management of seized assets and the approximation of this area in Ukraine to European standards.

“Transparent business conditions are one of the key requirements of the OECD, and ARMA plays a fundamental role in this process. Since August 2023, we have analyzed the concluded management agreements, some of which were terminated by our team due to inefficiency. We have implemented a system of continuous monitoring and evaluation of management efficiency, and we are actively eliminating the shortcomings and corruption risks of previous years,” emphasized Olena Duma, «Our goal is to find the most favorable conditions for the state in the management of seized assets. The result of this work is already tangible: today, the effective management of seized assets brings billions to the state».

Olena Duma shared the key results of ARMA's work for the year.

Financial performance

The Head of ARMA noted a significant increase in revenues from the management of seized assets:

- 2022: 34.8 million UAH

- 2024: 1.7 billion UAH + 303 million UAH from sales, including 89 million UAH in customs payments   

- In total, more than UAH 2 billion from the effective management of seized assets and their sale

- 10 billion UAH are in ARMA's deposit portfolio, of which almost 6 billion UAH are used to support the state's defense capability through the purchase of War Bonds.

Innovations and improvements

Since the second half of 2023, ARMA has implemented new approaches to its work:

• Opening public access to the Unified State Register of Seized Assets in the first month and a half after the new ARMA team started working

- Development of a legal framework for transparent sale (exclusively through Prozorro.Prodazhi) and selection of managers of seized assets.

- A procedure for the sale of seized assets abroad has been developed.

- A number of legislative changes have been initiated, including the draft law No. 11280-1, the approval of which will allow ARMA to manage corporate rights of the russian federation and Belarus, as well as to transfer assets with signs of cultural value to ARMA for management.

- Approval of the draft law 11009 will enable ARMA to transfer seized sanatorium complexes of Ukraine for rehabilitation of the military.

To watch the full speech of the Head of ARMA at the conference, please follow the link.