Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Scheme for 27,5 billion: how Oleksii Babenko’s Vyrij Industry spent budget funds on FPV drones
All financial operations of Ukrainian citizens have long been under the supervision of the NBU and the State Financial Monitoring Service, unlike millionaire-corruptionsters like Oleksii Babenko — founder of Vyrij Industry LLC. The company received more than 27,5 billion UAH of budget funds, including defense contracts for the supply of unmanned systems. At the same time, for four state contracts Vyrij Industry received 100% prepayment, but did not make deliveries within the prescribed deadlines. After the state funds were received, the money began moving to the accounts of other companies, sole proprietors, and non-residents.
Thus, the state made prepayments, the products were not delivered on time, and the funds continued to flow through the financial chain. Over the 2023–2026 years, more than 27,5 billion UAH of state funds were credited to VYRIJ INDUSTRY’s accounts, while registered sales amounted to about 11 billion UAH. The difference between these figures exceeds 16,5 billion UAH. It is precisely after these funds were received that payments for components, works, and services began to appear, including to non-residents, at prices that, according to available data, may not have reflected the real cost.
A telling example is the fiber-optic cable for FPV drones. Initially it was imported at roughly 7,5–8 dollars per kilometer, but later VYRIJ INDUSTRY officially purchased it for 17,5–18 dollars per kilometer through MARKET LEADER S.R.O. and OGNIS TRADING LLC. The difference is about 9,5–10 dollars per kilometer, while physically the goods remained in Ukraine and foreign intermediaries and inflated prices appeared in the paperwork. As a result, the cost of the component for drone production almost doubled, and part of the funds from such transactions was moved out of Ukraine.
This is not the only channel for funds extraction. The number of sole proprietors receiving payments increased from 42 in 2024 to 393 in 2026, and in December 2025 alone they were paid more than 92 million UAH. Funds flowed through VYRIJ INDUSTRY’s accounts at PUMB, EXPRESS BANK, ASVIO BANK and Bank Ukrainian Capital. It is necessary to establish the entire chain: who exactly received money from the sole proprietors and other counterparties, whether it was withdrawn in cash, converted, transferred abroad, and who the ultimate recipient was.
On 7 July 2026 the DBR investigators arrived at VYRIJ INDUSTRY with searches — not without reason, but within the framework of proceedings that already involve financial operations totaling more than 197 million UAH. During the searches, law enforcement found large sums of cash that were not in the company’s primary financial and accounting documents. In other words, while billions of state funds passed through the company’s accounts, part of the money recorded during investigative actions was off the official books. This is no longer a matter of declarations and figures in reports, but concrete movements of funds that investigators need to establish.
When we tried to find out who and how monitored the billion-grade flows of VYRIJ INDUSTRY, instead of a concrete answer we received a formal reply. In response to an information request dated 26 August 2026, the State Treasury reported only that the company had an account in the VAT electronic administration system and non-budgetary accounts. Regarding the actual financial monitoring, movement of funds, and possible suspicious transactions, the Treasury effectively gave no answer, citing lack of relevant authority. So we have filed a complaint with law enforcement and regulatory bodies with clear demands: to check the movement of more than 197 million UAH, payments through sole proprietors, legal entities and non-residents, in particular in favor of MARKET LEADER S.R.O. and OGNIS TRADING LLC, to identify the ultimate recipients of the funds, and to verify why criminal proceeding No. 62025000000001185 was not taken into account when defining VYRIJ INDUSTRY’s risk profile.
And now the main question — how did banking financial monitoring work with such financial flows? 27,5 billion UAH of state financing, missed delivery deadlines for defense contracts paid in advance, more than 16,5 billion UAH difference between state funding and registered sales, payments to hundreds of sole proprietors and to non-residents, operations over 197 million UAH and unaccounted cash — this is not a single transfer but an entire financial chain.
The law requires banks to assess a client’s risk, determine the source of funds, analyze the economic purpose of transactions, and conduct ongoing monitoring, and for high-risk cases to apply enhanced due diligence. So who and at what stage should have seen this chain — and where are the 27,5 billion UAH of state funds earmarked for defense today?
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Схема на 27,5 мільярда: як «Вирій Індастрі» Олексія Бабенка освоювала бюджетні кошти на FPV-дронах". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
