The head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma, has claimed pressure on the competition commission after the vote of one of its members was withdrawn.

"Regarding yesterday's statement about the recall of Dmytro Ostapenko's vote. The law does not provide for a mechanism for recalling the vote. The fact that Ostapenko backed my candidacy is recorded. Moreover, later, he commented on my candidacy, and it was quite positive. It's all on his official page on Facebook. The commission members had six months to get acquainted with the information about each candidate. Given these facts, I believe that the statement about the withdrawal of the vote is an undermining of the legal system of the state," Duma said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

According to her, an attempt to disrupt the competition is an act of pressure on the competition commission and the government to preserve corruption schemes. In addition, the withdrawal of the vote harms the business reputation of the candidate, she said.

"I have no doubts in such a situation that Ostapenko needs to be protected. He is under extreme pressure and needs the protection of the state. I ask the law enforcement agencies to consider this my statement about checking the fact of pressure on a member of the competition commission. This should be the task of authorized bodies, and not the subject of discussions in social networks," Duma said.

She considers unsubstantiated claims that her appointment to the position would entail reputational risks for the country and the effective and independent operation of the anti-corruption ecosystem and law enforcement agencies.

"Warnings about my candidacy appeared only after the competition was held and I was determined the winner. There were no warnings for six months," Duma said.

She said that the decision of the competition commission to appoint the head of ARMA can only be canceled in court, in case of establishing the fact of violation of the competition procedure.

The Duma rejected allegations of political involvement and lack of proper qualifications for the position of ARMA head, including statements made public by Transparency International Ukraine. She also denies ties with political parties, as well as participation in agitation or attempts to discredit any political forces.

As reported, the winner of the competition to select the head of ARMA was ex-deputy head of Chernihiv Regional State Administration Olena Duma, six of the eight members of the competition commission backed her candidacy. However, later a member of the competition commission, Dmytro Ostapenko, withdrew his vote. According to the current legislation on ARMA, the commission's decision is considered adopted if at least six members present at the meeting backed it.