In his speech, Oleksiy Shevchuk recalled that just a few years ago, reform of ARMA—the Agency for the Tracing and Management of Assets—was the subject of active discussion, particularly at the initiative of Anastasia Radina, chair of the Verkhovna Rada’s Anti-Corruption Committee. However, according to him, a significant portion of the proposed changes served the interests of the private sector—specifically, arbitration administrators and private enforcement agents. The National Bar Association of Ukraine has repeatedly criticized these legislative initiatives. Consequently, the main question raised by Mr. Shevchuk concerned the future of the bill in question: Is ARMA actively participating in its further development, or is it acting as a passive observer?

ARMA Chair Olena Duma emphasized in her response that the Agency had been directly involved in drafting Government Bill No. 12374 in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. This bill was intended to enhance institutional capacity and improve the mechanism for managing seized assets. In addition, there were alternative bills proposed by members of parliament, one of which provided for the involvement of arbitration administrators and private enforcement agents in the process of managing seized assets. According to Ms. Duma, ARMA, together with representatives of the legal community—including the National Bar Association of Ukraine, arbitration administrators, and other experts—carefully reviewed this bill. During the discussions, it was determined that the proposed changes did not ensure an adequate level of oversight and accountability. In particular, issues regarding funding, the selection procedure for arbitration administrators, their accountability, and access to court rulings in criminal proceedings remained unresolved. As a result, ARMA provided a number of comments and recommendations, which were partially taken into account by the relevant committee when preparing the bill for its second reading. At the same time, over 900 amendments were introduced, and the bill is currently under consideration in parliament.

Ms. Duma also noted that during martial law, changes to the asset management mechanism require a particularly measured approach, as any imperfect legal provisions could pose risks to the country’s economic security. ARMA strives to maintain transparency and efficiency in its operations by using proven mechanisms for asset disposal through the “Prozorro.Sales” system.

For more details on the discussion, watch the video report summarizing the ARMA roundtable. The link is in the first comment on this post.