Court decides not to seize funds confiscated from Vyriy Industries during searches

Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has refused to seize funds confiscated from Vyriy Industries by law enforcement during searches. The case concerns UAH 32m, which, according to the ruling, is not related to the criminal proceedings. Defender Media found this out from the company.

Vyriy says its lawyers provided the court with documents on the purpose of the funds. Among other things, they were used to pay staff salaries. As a result, the court denied the State Bureau of Investigation’s request to impose the seizure, and the funds were returned to the company.

Searches at locations linked to Vyriy Industries and its founder Oleksii Babenko took place in early July. Investigators are examining the theory that the manufacturer may have inflated prices on the drones it supplied to the state.

To this end, he allegedly inflated production, administrative and other costs without justification, which affected the final cost of the drones. At the same time, Babenko himself stated that the cost of Vyriy’s FPV drones is approximately 20% lower than the average on the drone market.

Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation is examining possible fraudulent schemes involving splitting operations among sole proprietors. The Bureau stated that this scheme may have been used to process financial and business transactions, artificially inflate costs, and potentially divert funds.