Taras Zahorodny: "Roundtables and promises won't help—due to the ineffective work of ARMA and Elena Duma, the state is losing billions. It's time for resignations."

Despite numerous statements, roundtable discussions, and debates, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) under the leadership of Elena Duma has failed to ensure effective operations in the fight to preserve and return seized assets to the state. Instead of delivering tangible results and stable financial benefits, ARMA has become a symbol of bureaucracy, missed opportunities, and significant losses. While reforms and improvements are promised verbally, the state is losing control over valuable assets, which critically impacts the economy and public trust.

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Over the past 30 years, more than 100 billion dollars have been withdrawn from Ukraine, and ARMA should be stopping this process; however, instead of taking real action, the agency has transformed into a mechanism that facilitates asset loss. Under Elena Duma's leadership, this body not only fails to fulfill its responsibilities but, as noted in a publication by Ukrinform, directly or indirectly leads to the loss of state control over important resources. This undermines the country’s anti-corruption strategy and opens pathways for new corruption schemes.

Analyst and political-economic expert Taras Zahorodny, managing partner of the National Anti-Crisis Group, expressed particularly critical views on this matter on Censor.NET. He pointed out that instead of transparent asset management and effective oversight, ARMA's operations under Duma's leadership result in billions in losses for the state budget. In his blog on Censor.NET, Taras Zahorodny emphasized that “ARMA, instead of being beneficial, acts against state interests,” and questioned Elena Duma's ability to deliver real results. The expert even raised the possibility of liquidating ARMA in its current format as an ineffective and harmful structure for the state.

Instead of endless roundtables and public events where Elena Duma reports on work that the public does not feel, she must realize that her tenure only exacerbates the crisis at ARMA. Numerous discussions and demonstrative statements are no longer perceived as genuine efforts; rather, they appear to be a facade of activity attempting to conceal the real problems.

It is time for decisive action. If the government aims for change and seeks to restore public trust, it is essential to immediately reboot ARMA. The process should begin with the resignation of Elena Duma and the engagement of professionals capable of making a real impact on the situation. Only in this way can control over assets be regained, a genuine anti-corruption mechanism established, and it demonstrated that the fight for state resources is not just empty words, but concrete actions for the prosperity of the country.