Who earns what money in Ukraine from the production and sale of weapons during the war.
The large-scale war that Ukraine has been waging against Russian aggressors since February 24, 2022 has seriously affected the arms market not only within the country, but also in the world. In short, it has grown and almost all players have benefited from it. A similar situation has developed with domestic Ukrainian production. And even though there is still a shortage of our own weapons, in 2022-2023 Ukraine has formed its own layer of “weapon barons”, whose enterprises have revenues of billions, or even tens of billions of hryvnia.
LLC “Ukrainian Armored Vehicles” of Sergei Pashinsky – an increase of 32,000%
Undoubtedly, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 became an impetus for development for Ukrainian Armored Vehicles LLC. According to the YouControl analytical service, the LLC’s revenue increased from UAH 103 million in 2021 to UAH 32.4 billion at the end of 2023. That is, the increase was 320 times or 32,000%. And according to the authoritative magazine The New York Times, “Ukrainian Armored Vehicles” became the largest private supplier to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense during the war.
Founded in 2001 as a packaging production company, in 2015 the company changed its name and retrained to produce weapons, developing the Varta and Novator armored vehicles. Subsequently, the range grew, adding mortars of 60, 82 and 120 mm caliber, mines for them, with a production volume of up to 20 thousand mines and 100 mortars per month, and 122 mm shells for Gvozdika howitzers.
The only thing the company is “unlucky” with is its owner. So, although Nikolai Kuzma is officially considered to be the owner, the “real owner” is most likely ex-People’s Deputy Sergei Pashinsky, for whom Kuzma at one time worked as an assistant.
State prosecutors from NABU and SAPO share the same opinion, since the ex-politician is suspected of stealing 97 thousand tons of petroleum products worth almost 1 billion UAH. True, at the moment the investigation has stalled, since the fact that Pashinsky received benefits was not established.
Motor Sich JSC is an owner in prison, and the company works for the Ministry of Defense
Number 2 in the production of military products in Ukraine, Motor Sich JSC, is in a fever from scandals and an unstable economic situation. The owner of the enterprise, Vyacheslav Boguslaev, is behind bars and is suspected of treason, and the company’s revenue has fallen by 1.5 times.
Although Motor Sich does not officially produce weapons or ammunition, its engines are used on airplanes and helicopters for civil and military purposes.
While the owner of Motor Sich JSC himself has been in a pre-trial detention center for more than a year, the enterprise has been managed by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine since November 2023 and, judging by the indicators, it is not doing it very successfully. Thus, the company’s revenue fell from UAH 10.4 billion in 2022 to UAH 8.5 billion. in 2023.
LLC NPK Techimpex - legal battles, raiding and problems in the future
The company, which was born in 2003, became one of the leaders in military production in Ukraine during the war - 6.2 billion UAH in revenue for 2023. The company is engaged in the production, repair and modernization of armored vehicles, the production of combat modules for them, as well as small arms in the form of grenade launchers and machine guns, including large-caliber ones.
As one of the leaders of the arms market, surprisingly little is known about the owners of Techimpex - 50% of the company each belongs to Lugansk resident Dmitry Fulitka and Kiev resident Igor Berestavenko.
This is all the more strange since just 4 years ago serious passions and even raider attacks were seething around her. So, in any case, the media wrote in August 2020, when Techimpex accused Evgeniy Vashchilin, a native of the Ukrinmash state enterprise, one of the state special exporters of weapons, of attempting to seize its production in the Kyiv region. In addition, Evgeniy’s father, Viktor Vashchilin, in the 1990s headed an influential structure - the State Export Control Service, through which all arms export contracts pass, and allegedly stood at the origins of Techimpex.
At the same time, Evgeniy Vashilin himself is convinced that it was his partners Kravchenko Yu.M. and Terekhov I.M. who stole Techimpex from him and are constantly re-registering the company with dummies. Legal battles surrounding the enterprise are still ongoing, and in April, by a court decision, all 100% of the shares of Techimpex owned by Soft Market Solution LLC, which is owned by Dmitry Fulitka and Igor Berestavenko, were arrested.
Considering that Techimpex’s revenue is UAH 450 million. in 2021 increased to UAH 6.2 billion. in 2023, control over the enterprise has become even more delicious, and we can expect tougher legal battles.
State Enterprise “Zhytomyr Armored Plant” - Gladkovsky’s legacy - bankrupt, but with billions in revenue
The products of the state enterprise “Zhytomyr Armored Plant” turned out to be in great demand during the war - work is underway on the repair and restoration of armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks and other wheeled and tracked vehicles.
To some extent, the war saved the plant, which was previously known as a “participant” in the schemes of the son of the former first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleg Gladkovsky, who sold spare parts to Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises at high markups. But already in 2020, the development of the plant began - from 45 million UAH of turnover in 2019, it grew to 1.15 billion UAH, although a year later it failed again - 464 million UAH. And at the end of 2022 and 2023, revenue amounted to UAH 1.9 and 4.6 billion, respectively.
At the same time, it is curious that the enterprise is officially in a state of bankruptcy, initiated by its owner - the state, represented by JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry.
State Holding Company "Artem" - new name, old criminal cases
JSC “Company of Aviation and Rocket Engineering” - this is the name under which the former holding company “Artem” is now known, producing projectiles, missiles, avionics, including for UAVs, and much more.
At one time, the company found itself at the epicenter of a scandal - an American businessman promised to supply equipment for the production of shells. Having “lobbied” for the contract with the help of a number of government officials, the entrepreneur received 8.3 million dollars (225 million UAH) in advance payment, but never delivered the equipment. Otherwise, the business of the company, 100% owned by the state, is going well - revenue from UAH 592 million in 2021 increased to UAH 4.1 billion. in 2023 and this is clearly not the limit.
LLC “PIK “Deviro” is a dark horse of the UAV business
Without exaggeration, the Ukrainian-Russian war changed the DNA of modern warfare, in which UAVs began to play a huge role. It is no coincidence that in 2023, the Ministry of Defense counted more than 200 companies engaged in their production in Ukraine.
The most financially successful in this list is LLC “Production and Innovation Company “Deviro” with revenue for 2023 of almost 3 billion UAH, despite the fact that in 2021 it was 80 million.
The beginning of the company’s history, according to its website, is 2014, but the LLC itself was registered in 2015, and initially specialized in the production of civilian UAVs. However, in wartime they can be used with equal success for war.
There is probably only one secret to such a “jump” in the company’s income – war, but it cannot be said that they did not have high connections. So, near the origins of the creation of “Deviro” in 2014, stood the then people’s deputy, commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs special forces regiment “Dnepr-1” Yuri Bereza. In any case, until the summer of 2020, one of the owners of the company was his daughter Ekaterina Nazarenko.
However, at the moment the company has 5 owners, who own from 11.44 to 22.14% of the shares. Thus, Denis Cherednichenko (owns 22.14%) served as an aerial reconnaissance officer at Dnepr-1 and can be considered an expert, Elena Zabolotnaya is probably the wife of engineer Viktor Zabolotny working in the company, who was also at the origins of the creation of the LLC.
The main buyers of UAVs from Deviro are the largest Ukrainian volunteer foundations.
State Enterprise “Plant named after Malyshev” - products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite bankruptcy
The state enterprise “Plant named after Malyshev”, which is involved in the case of purchasing unusable artillery barrels at increased prices, is also in bankruptcy proceedings, just like the Zhytomyr Armored Plant.
So, if in 2021 the company earned UAH 1.2 billion, then in 2023 this figure increased to UAH 2.96 billion. True, in 2022 the plant was expecting a real failure - only 443 million UAH, which is not surprising, because the enterprise was not relocated, and Kharkov was under fire for most of the year. Authorities called the plant one of the hardest hit by shelling.
It is also unknown exactly what part of the production goes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because the plant also produces transport engineering products, such as engines and locomotives.
Screentek LLC is simply magic
Another company specializing in the production of UAVs performed a real miracle, compared to which the achievements of “Ukrainian Armored Vehicles” pale, having an income of less than 1.5 million UAH in 2021; the company ended 2023 with revenue of 2 billion 934 million UAH.
What is the secret of success of the owner of 60% of the company, Pavel Elizarov, is difficult to say. A native of Moldova has lived in Ukraine since the 1990s, has been involved in business, served as Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, and worked at Ukravtodor. He was also a co-owner of Savik Shuster Studio LLC and ran for people’s deputies, although unsuccessfully. In general, the range of his interests is wide; in the arms business he owns another company - Lazar Industries LLC.
Kiev Armored Plant LLC - income increased 8 times
Despite its LLC status, this is another state-owned enterprise owned by Ukrainian Defense Industry JSC. Like the Zhitomir plant, the Kiev armored plant was used in Gladkovsky Jr.’s schemes.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the company’s income has increased 8 times – from UAH 334 million. up to 2.5 billion UAH. However, some dubious transactions continue to surround the enterprise even now.
For example, according to the SBI and the capital’s prosecutor’s office, a certain private company “Promenergo” provided services to a number of enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex for repairing engines of ground vehicles, but in reality, by purchasing spare parts from front companies, it simply withdrew the money received for repairs. Among the enterprises whose involvement in the scheme is being verified by the investigation is the Kiev Armored Plant.
State Enterprise “Kharkov Armored Plant” - the state and Gladkovsky
The TOP 10 most profitable enterprises of the military-industrial complex are closed by the State Enterprise “Kharkov Armored Plant”, which is a “twin” of the other armored plants. There is still the same state represented by the “Ukrainian Defense Industry”, the participation of Gladkovsky Jr., a 6-fold increase in income since the beginning of the war - from UAH 445 million in 2021 to UAH 2 billion 513 million. in 2023. And this is all under the conditions of the liquidation procedure of a legal entity of an enterprise.
Obviously, the successes of Ukrainian weapons manufacturers, and most importantly, the high demand for them in Ukraine prompted French entrepreneurs to open their factories in our country. There are at least three of these, according to French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu.
