The head of ARMA Duma brags about the assessment of Gulliver shopping center, but ignores the law

The head of the Agency for Search and Asset Management, Olena Duma, announced the completion of the assessment of the capital’s “Gulliver” mall and assured that a manager would be sought for it in the near future. However, key information about the valuation of this asset is still missing from the seized property register, which raises doubts about the transparency of the process, writes UNN.

Details

According to Olena Duma, PE “Business Consulting” valued Gulliver shopping center at 7.6 billion hryvnias. Information about the valuation of the specified asset is available only on the official website of ARMA and in the social networks of the agency and its head Olena Duma. However, despite the requirement of the law, there is no information in the register of seized property regarding the assessment of the “Gulliver” shopping center.

This fact raises serious questions for ARMA and its leadership regarding compliance with the law and transparency of the process. According to the ARMA law, all valuations of assets transferred to the agency must be publicly available in the seized assets registry. However, the lack of information about such a high-profile asset as the “Gulliver” shopping center calls into question the transparency of the agency’s further actions.

Anti-corruption experts periodically criticize ARMA and its head Olena Duma for the incomplete register of seized property. The very opening of this register was one of the conditions for Olena Duma to remain in office, so it was probably opened hastily and haphazardly only to preserve the “chair”. This is how it is conducted to this day.

Let’s add

ARMA must manage assets seized in criminal proceedings in order to preserve or increase their economic value. In order to preserve or increase the value of an asset, it must be valued and, by law, this data must be entered in the Register of Seized Assets. However, the reality looks different, and a clear example of this can be the story of hiding the assessment of the Truskavets sanatorium and the garbage trucks handed over to ARMA.

Security expert Serhiy Shabovta suggests that ARMA selectively publishes information on the valuation of seized property because it is profitable for them for corruption reasons. In his opinion, law enforcement officers should respond to such facts.

In general, statements about the non-transparent and inefficient work of ARMA and its head, Elena Duma, have been heard more than once. A petition has even appeared on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine calling for Olena Duma to be fired from her position due to her alleged connections with pro-Russian politicians and ineffective management of seized assets.

In addition, all members of the public council under ARMA recently resigned. At the meeting, they emphasized the lack of transparency in ARMA’s work and the fact that the agency creates artificial obstacles for the implementation of measures of public control over its activities. They also stated that the management of ARMA systematically ignores their appeals and, in violation of the requirements of the law, does not involve them in the development of normative legal acts.