On 26 October, with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine, an independent group of international experts presented the preliminary results of technical assessment of the National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes (ARMA), held from May to August 2018.
While providing recommendations, the experts highlighted the successes and challenges that the agency is currently facing. They’ve noted the coherence of the processes in the work of the agency and the availability of all necessary powers and tools for finding assets as well for their further freezing or confiscating both in Ukraine and abroad. According to the experts, ARMA works in line with the European practices, partly due to the fact that the Ukrainian agency has managed to establish good contacts with its Western colleagues. The international partners such as EUACI helped to establish those contacts and set up the work of the agency. And now those contacts help not only receive information about assets abroad, but can also contribute to ARMA’s foreign investigations.
The experts have noted that for the sustainable development and success of the agency, additional efforts in some areas are needed. Thus, experts pointed out that establishing of transparent communication and informing about their achievements and opportunities is needed both for the public and Ukrainian investigating and prosecuting authorities. In addition, the inter-agency cooperation between ARMA and law enforcement and judicial authorities should be strengthened.
Work of ARMA was assessed by John Ringguth, Former Executive Secretary of MONEYVAL, Jill Thomas, Leading Advisor on Development and Management of Regional Law Enforcement and Judicial Networks for returning assets in Europol, and Pedro Gomes Pereira, an independent consultant on anti-corruption and assets’ recovery field.
The process of evaluation had three stages: questionnaires, interviews with external partners and stakeholders of ARMA, personal interviews with ARMA employees and representatives of state agencies working with the agency. The experts evaluated processes and communications of ARMA, as well as mechanisms for cooperation with other state agencies, its effectiveness and independence.
The report states that since its creation, the agency has shown its effective work. ‘The success of ARMA plays a key role for Ukraine in demonstrating its commitment to fighting against organized crime, corruption and terrorism by confiscating the assets deprived from crimes,’ stressed the experts.
The representatives of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, a group of international experts, representatives of embassies, public sector and heads of ARMA structural divisions joined the discussion.
