Thousands of seized russian assets in Ukraine are now either idle or working for the enemy. This is because the current legislation obliges the National Agency to ask the owner of the seized asset for permission to manage his or her corporations. It is cynicism to ask the aggressor, who is waging war against us, whether it is possible to make its assets work for the victory of Ukraine.

This was emphasized by the Head of Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma, during a roundtable discussion on “How to return blocked Russian money to Ukraine.”

The Head of the ARMA added that the draft law No. 10069 developed by the National Agency can put an end to this. The Government has already submitted the draft law to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. ARMA has also sent official letters requesting that the approval of the draft law be recognized as urgent.

The discussion also touched upon other important legislative initiatives, including those that could help rehabilitate Ukrainian soldiers.

For example, draft law No. 11009 will enable the ARMA to transfer seized sanatoriums for the rehabilitation of the military. It will also allow for the transfer of seized equipment, vehicles and other assets to the needs of the Defense Forces without competitive procedures.

Earlier, ARMA initiated 4 draft laws to unblock the management of corporate rights of the Russian Federation and Belarus, including: No. 6233 (in 2023), No. 11280-1, No. 8184. Some of them either did not receive the required number of votes of MPs or were not even included in the agenda.