OSCE facilitates the signing of memorandum of understanding on tracing, detection and management of illegal assets between agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine

On 15 August 2024, the Seized Property Management Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FAZUOI) and the National Agency of Ukraine for the Detection, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening their co-operation in the fight against organized crime and corruption through tracing, detection and management of illegal assets.

The Memorandum—signed by Emir Bašić, Acting Director of FAZUOI and Olena Duma, Director of ARMA—seeks to establish mutually beneficial relations between the two agencies through the exchange of experiences and resources. It outlines a broad range of joint activities, including the organization and implementation of seminars, webinars, business forums, educational and research activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. These will further improve the methods currently used to detect, trace and manage assets derived from corruption and other crimes.

"We believe that this co-operation will yield significant results in the fight against corruption and the management of seized assets, thereby strengthening public trust in our institutions," said Acting Director Bašić.

Both agencies are committed to developing and strengthening their abilities to combat illegally acquired assets through this co-operation, contributing to the enhancement of professional competencies.

“This Memorandum of Understanding provides a concrete example of the results we can achieve by bringing States together to better recover criminal assets and find suitable solutions to their management,” said Sami Ryhänen, Head of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department Strategic Police Matters Unit.

The signing of the Memorandum was preceded by bilateral exchanges between the two institutions on the margins of meetings of the OSCE-supported Balkan Asset Management Interagency Network. The co-operation between the two agencies was facilitated as part of the extrabudgetary project “Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts in the OSCE Region”, which is funded by Austria, Germany, Italy and the United States.