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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The key figure in the Vyriy Industries case is almost 7 billion UAH of state contracts the company signed in 2025. The State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) continues to examine possible overpricing of drones, supply chains, and financial transactions involving more than 150 individual entrepreneurs (FOPs). Separately, the investigation is analyzing transactions totaling over 197 million UAH, and on 7 July 2026 law enforcement conducted searches at Vyriy Industries, at its owner Oleksii Babenko’s premises, at his relatives’ premises, and at other related locations.
According to the investigation, the subject of the inquiry is the possible artificial inflation of the price of UAVs that Vyriy Industries supplied to state customers. The DBR is also reviewing contracts under which payments may have been made between the company and its counterparties. At this stage it is a pre-trial investigation, not a court-established finding of guilt against Vyriy Industries or its management, media report. The case materials name more than 150 FOPs who may have been involved in the supply chains and financial transactions. The investigation is checking whether these entrepreneurs conducted real business activity or whether some of them may have been used to carry out transactions between related entities. The total volume of transactions under review by law enforcement amounts to more than 197 million UAH. Oleksii Babenko denies suggestions that the network of counterparties was fictitious. He says Vyriy Industries worked with hundreds of component suppliers, and the scale of drone manufacturing requires an extensive procurement system. Babenko stated that during 2025 the company cooperated with approximately 400–500 FOPs, so the sheer number of entrepreneurs does not indicate illegal activity. A separate episode concerns the searches the DBR carried out on 7 July. Investigators seized documents, electronic media, and other materials that may be relevant to establishing the structure of Vyriy Industries’ operations. During the investigative actions, more than 32 million UAH in cash was also seized. The DBR petitioned the court to freeze the seized funds. The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv denied that petition, noting that the prosecution had not proven the necessary link between the money and the criminal case. Once the court decision became final, the funds were to be returned to the company. At the same time, the return of 32 million UAH does not mean the Vyriy Industries case is closed. The court decision concerned the specific issue of freezing the seized funds and did not determine the lawfulness of all the company’s financial transactions. The DBR continues to review documents, money flows, and the activities of counterparties. As of 29 September there is no publicly confirmed information that Oleksii Babenko has been served with a suspicion in this criminal proceeding. Babenko himself has stated that he and Vyriy Industries’ representatives have witness status. He said the company had not received notice of suspicion and that business representatives did not know who the investigation considered potential suspects. Babenko also denied accusations of systematically inflating drone prices. He claimed that Vyriy Industries’ product prices are approximately 20% lower than average market levels. These statements reflect the company leader’s position and are not conclusions of the DBR or a court. The investigation is simultaneously checking the procurement chains for components. For a drone manufacturer a large number of suppliers is not itself a violation, but in the framework of the criminal proceeding law enforcement must establish whether the declared operations corresponded to real deliveries of goods, services, and components. A political context has also arisen in the case due to Vyriy Industries’ cooperation with structures associated with Petro Poroshenko. The company supplied products to European Solidarity. The fact of such purchases was confirmed by Oleksii Babenko himself, who said these were interceptor drones and “Blyskavky.” According to Babenko, the share of such purchases in Vyriy Industries’ total sales was insignificant, and the company’s products were bought by representatives of various businesses and political circles. He also claimed that the share of FPV drones in purchases by Poroshenko-related structures was zero. At the same time, there is no public confirmation that Petro Poroshenko controls Vyriy Industries or owns a stake in the company. The mere fact that political structures purchased drones does not prove Poroshenko’s involvement in Vyriy Industries’ activities or in the DBR criminal proceeding. Thus, at the center of the investigation remain three key blocks: state contracts totaling almost 7 billion UAH, financial transactions of more than 197 million UAH, and a network of over 150 FOPs. The DBR must establish whether any of these transactions involved fictitious contracts, artificial price inflation, or other violations. Further developments in the case will depend on the analysis of documents and electronic media seized during the searches, as well as on verification of financial flows and counterparties’ activities. For now the criminal proceeding is ongoing, and there are no final procedural conclusions in the publicly available materials regarding the guilt of Vyriy Industries, Oleksii Babenko, or other persons.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Vyriy Industries: ДБР перевіряє 7 млрд грн контрактів і 150 ФОПів". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Fraza.
