The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has decided to close the proceedings against the Ukrainian company “Archer”, which produces thermal imagers.
This was reported by the NABU press service.
The basis for starting the investigation is cited as financial monitoring materials from one of the European Union countries.
However, as noted by NABU, the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to indicate that the actions of officials of the Ministry of Defense and the Archer company constituted a criminal offense.
"We note that initial assessments do not always lead to the establishment of a crime or prosecution. At the same time, such cases become the basis for improving work and internal procedures," the anti-corruption body added.
What is known about the case?
In October 2023, the “Archer” CEO Oleksandr Yaremenko reported that the company had temporarily suspended its operations due to searches by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
According to him, during the searches, design drawings and documentation, software products that are the intellectual property of the company and the state were copied, and the detective allegedly said that “Archer” is “a Ministry of Defense agent".
At the same time, NABU stated that searches were conducted at private companies in a case of possible embezzlement of state funds in particularly large amounts during the procurement of defense products.
Investigators found that one of these companies had signed a number of contracts to supply the army with thermal imagers. The total amount of the contracts was almost UAH 1.5 billion, of which the company received an advance payment (from 80 to 100%), but exceeded the delivery deadlines by more than 9 months, meaning the Defense Forces received the equipment late.
Detectives said that during the searches they did not seize computers, all necessary information was copied on site, and the searches were conducted taking into account the specifics of the companyʼs activities. NABU denies that it copied design drawings, documentation, and software products.
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