The owner of the Dronika company from the Khmelnytsky region, Bogdan Dovbysh, stole 5.7 million hryvnia from the budget for the production of drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Law enforcement officials have announced suspicions to the head of the Dronika company, Bogdan Dovbysh, of embezzlement of UAH 5.7 million in budget funds. According to investigators, Dovbysh sold low-quality drones to the military under the guise of high-quality ones. The businessman refused to comment on the prosecutor's charges.

The Shepetivka District Prosecutor's Office announced suspicion of the supplier of drones for the military, which were ordered by the Netishinsky City Council in the Khmelnytskyi region. Law enforcement officers believe that the suspect organized an entire scheme to seize budget funds.

According to investigators, the head of a company producing aircraft and related equipment organized a scheme to seize budget funds.

“In January 2024, the company became the winner of the tender announced by the Netishinsky City Council for the purchase of FPV drones to support the defense forces. During January-April 2024, a number of contracts were concluded between the parties for the purchase of 1 thousand FPV drones with a total value of more than UAH 16.4 million,” prosecutors write.

Journalists from Slidstvo.Info analyzed the purchases of the Netishinsky City Council and identified the suspect.

From January to April 2024, the Executive Committee of the Netishinsky City Council entered into four contracts (1, 2, 3, 4, - note) with Dronika LLC for the supply of 1.1 thousand FPV drones. The total cost of concluded contracts is UAH 18.2 million.

The Dronika company has been on the market for less than a year; it was founded and is now headed by Bogdan Dovbysh. Investigative.Info journalists called the businessman to hear his opinion on the law enforcement charges, but he refused to comment.

Prosecutors believe that Bogdan Dovbysh decided to make money and significantly “reduced the cost” of production. Instead of the video cameras and video transmitters provided for in the tender and technical documentation, devices of lower quality and almost half the price were installed on the drones. Thus, the suspect embezzled more than UAH 5.7 million of budget funds.

Law enforcement officers accuse Dovbysh of misappropriating budget funds on a large scale by an organized group (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The businessman faces 12 years in prison, a three-year ban on certain activities and confiscation of property.

During its existence, Dronika LLC entered into 33 contracts with government customers, the total value of which is UAH 25.4 million. The largest customer in the company is the Neteshin City Council, with which contracts were concluded for almost 20 million UAH. Dronika also supplies a small amount of products to government customers from the Ternopil and Lviv regions.

Bogdan Dovbush is the founder of several legal entities: Dronica LLC and Global Import Solutions LLC, which have more than a thousand types of activities in the list of employment areas. In April 2023, the entrepreneur registered the Community Power charity foundation.