Officials from the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (BBIU) are conducting comprehensive investigative activities as part of a criminal case concerning suspected artificial inflating of the value of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to preliminary findings, in 2025, a private company supplied UAVs of various types and modifications under state contracts with a total value of nearly UAH 7 billion (approximately PLN 636 million).
How gives UNN agency, it’s about the producer Vyriy Industries. On July 6, officers conducted searches both at the company’s headquarters and at the residence of its director, Oleksiy Babenko.
Investigators are examining the hypothesis that those responsible for the company’s operations may have artificially inflated the value of production by unjustifiably including inflated production, administrative and other expenses in the production costs, which directly affected the final price of drones purchased with public funds.
Additionally, information is being verified regarding the use of an extensive network of sole proprietors (Sole Proprietorships) and business entities disguised as fictitious enterprises. These structures were intended to document financial and economic operations, artificially generate company costs, and potentially siphon off funds.
Based on the materials provided by the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine, financial operations were established with a total value exceeding 197 million hryvnias (approx. 17.9 million PLN). They are currently being analyzed for possible legalization (laundering) of funds derived from criminal activities.
Regardless, investigations are ongoing into financial operations conducted on behalf of a number of sole proprietorships that appear to be fictitious. During interviews, ten such individuals testified that they did not actually conduct business activities and provided registration documents in exchange for monetary compensation.
During the investigation, more than 150 entities that could be used in the mechanism being analyzed. These include nail technicians, students, shop workers, and representatives of other professions.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine announced that during searches conducted at the residential addresses of some of the owners of sole proprietorships implementing multi-million contracts, it was established that their living conditions and operating style did not indicate the possession of assets or income corresponding to the scale of the contracts implemented.
Necessary investigative and procedural activities are currently underway to establish all the circumstances surrounding the possible crimes, identify those responsible, and determine the extent of the damage caused to the State Treasury. Once these activities are completed, a decision will be made to bring charges against those against whom the evidence gathered warrants it.
source: DBR/UNN agency
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