The Government Has Revisited ARMA Reform. What Does This Mean?

On Sunday, November 16, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko announced that she and the President had agreed on a plan to reset several state institutions, including the Asset Recovery and Management Agency. ARMA, in turn, publicly expressed its support for the initiative.

The renewed urgency appears to be linked to the fact that ARMA employees were mentioned in the “Mindich tapes.” These likely refer to those wiretap recordings that have not yet been released publicly. In view of this, the Prime Minister instructed that an internal review be conducted and that relevant personnel decisions be made.

The Agency’s formal reboot began back in the summer, following the adoption of amendments to the Law on ARMA. The reform introduced: 

1. The launch of an independent external audit of ARMA under the new rules.
2. Implementation of new procedures for managing seized assets through transparent, business-friendly competitions.
3. Identification of “legacy assets” — property previously transferred to ARMA for which managers were never appointed.
4. A competition for selecting the Head of ARMA under the new framework, along with updated rules on remuneration for Agency officials.
5. Changes to public oversight and internal control mechanisms.

The adoption of the ARMA reform law established a solid foundation for changing the rules of the game in the management of seized assets. At the same time, while the selection of the Agency’s Head and the development of secondary legislation have already begun, there has been no progress on updating the Criminal Procedure Code. This is important because the new asset-management mechanisms require appropriate procedural support and amendments to criminal procedure.

We hope that the commitment expressed by the Cabinet of Ministers and the Office of the President will soon lead to the full implementation of the Agency’s reform.