The National Agency for Corruption Prevention will research the potential conflict of interest in the actions of members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine who wanted to initiate a proceeding on the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) being “unconstitutional.” Among them – Yaroslav Dubnevych, Boryslav Rozenblat, Dmytro Sviatash.
At the end of September, the Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption network Transparency International reported to the NACP that MPs Dubnevych, Sviatash and Rozenblat were violating the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Corruption Prevention” pertaining to the conflict of interest. They were among the 56 MPs from Vidrodzhennia, Opposition Bloc and BPP parties who tried to prove that part of the law on the ARMA was unconstitutional.
Recently, TI Ukraine has received a letter from the NACP confirming that the agency would look into the issue and identify whether the law was violated.
Recently, TI Ukraine has received a letter from the NACP confirming that the agency would look into the issue and identify whether the law was violated.
Some of the MPs were personally interested in obstructing the ARMA’s work, since their property is either already managed by the Agency, or may well be in the near future. That includes two infamous heat and power plants belonging to Yaroslav Dubnevych and his brother Bohdan, transferred to the ARMA in the summer of 2018. The damaged caused to the national budget through the plants amount to UAH 1.5 billion.
However, the Constitutional Court denied the MPs’ motion to start a proceeding.
You can find out more about the motion in Kateryna Ryzhenko’s blog Constitutional Nonsense. How MPs Remembered ARMA.
For reference: the National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Obtained through Corruption and Other Crimes (short version – Asset Recovery and Management Agency, or ARMA) is a central executive agency with a special status, authorized to form and implement national policy pertaining to finding and tracing of assets that may be seized in a criminal proceeding, as well as to manage assets already seized in a criminal proceeding. The National Agency was created analogously to asset recovery and management institutions that successfully function in EU member states according to the decision of the Council of the EU No. 2007/845/JHA of 06 December 2007 and other EU legal acts.
This publication was prepared with the financial support of the European Union. Its content constitutes the exclusive liability of Transparency International Ukraine and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Some of the MPs were personally interested in obstructing the ARMA's work, since their property is either already managed by the Agency, or may well be in the near future.
