National Anti-Corruption Bureau: The case against the manufacturer of thermal imagers Archer has been closed
This is reported by the NABU press service.
"Based on the investigation results, there is not enough evidence to indicate the presence of a criminal offense by the officials of the Ministry of Defense and Archer company," the statement reads.
"The grounds for initiating the investigation were materials from financial monitoring of one of the European Union countries. After a thorough review of all circumstances of the procurement, a lawful decision has been made," NABU assures.
Law enforcement officials emphasized that preliminary assessments do not always indicate the presence of a crime: "We note that initial assessments do not always lead to establishing the fact of a crime or bringing someone to justice. At the same time, such cases serve as a basis for improving work and internal procedures."
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Halyna Yanchenko expressed very harsh criticism of NABU detectives' work.
«Raids, seizure of property, documents. The investigation based on NABU materials lasted in two countries - Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Today, after more than 2.5 years, NABU closed the case due to «insufficient evidence to indicate the commission of a crime»," the deputy wrote on her social media page, commenting on the case.
«As part of the NABU investigation, there were repeated account blockages of the manufacturer in Ukraine and the Czech Republic, which prevented the company from fulfilling one of the state contracts on time. Moreover, the state customer imposed a penalty of 52 million hryvnias on Archer (!). This does not look like gratitude from the country to the manufacturer. And in the midst of a war,» Yanchenko exclaimed.
This case raises several key questions, writes the people's representative: «If the state blocks accounts and itself prevents the fulfillment of a contract — who should be held responsible... Who will compensate for the financial and reputational losses of a successful manufacturer who spent over 2.5 years in an internal war with government authorities?»
Recall that in 2023, NABU detectives conducted searches in the offices and apartments of Archer employees. At that time, the Bureau reported suspicion of nearly 200 million UAH embezzled during the execution of defense contracts totaling approximately 1.5 billion UAH, and delays in supplying equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
