On July 22, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv refused to order the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to seize over UAH 32 million, which were seized during searches at the drone manufacturer “Vyriy Industries” on July 7.
This was reported by the press service of “Vyriy Industries”.
They noted that during the trial, the companyʼs lawyers provided written objections and documents confirming the legal origin and purpose of the seized funds — for employee salaries.
The court found that these funds were not related to the criminal proceedings, refused to seize them, and returned them to the company.
The “Vyriy Industries” CEO Oleksiy Babenko stated that from the very beginning the company was confident in its legal position and openly stated that the withdrawn funds were legal.
However, after the searches, Babenko added, the company was forced to conduct a large-scale relocation of production and administrative facilities, "to protect employees, prevent the disclosure of production locations, and ensure continuity of work".
"Despite searches, legal proceedings, and relocation, production did not stop. We continued to fulfill state contracts and supply unmanned systems to the Defense Forces of Ukraine every day. This was and remains our main priority," said the CEO of “Vyriy Industries”.
The company added that they continue to operate as normal, continue to fulfill government contracts, and provide the Ukrainian military with UAV systems.
What preceded
On the morning of July 7, the State Bureau of Investigation searched the home of “Vyriy Industries” owner and Babel shareholder Oleksiy Babenko, as well as his relatives and the companyʼs office. They seized UAH 32 141 310, which were intended, in particular, to pay salaries to employees.
Oleksiy Babenko explained that they pay in cash for security reasons so that banks do not have lists of employees.
The searches were related to inflated prices for drones. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, in 2025 the company signed contracts with the Defense Procurement Agency for UAH 6.95 billion. Law enforcement officers checked whether production, administration and other costs had been unreasonably increased, which affected the final purchase price.
However, Babenko provided data showing that the cost of the companyʼs FPV drones is approximately 20% lower than on the drone market.
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