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2 days ago

"Favored" Vendor Lost Drone Tender, Winning Manufacturer Extorted for $1 Million in Acceptance Fee Scheme A State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (#DPSU) official, Vitaliy #Shapran, and drone manufacturer Robert #Stepanyan face corruption and money laundering charges over an extortion scheme involving "#Kolibri" drone procurement, #Sheptun reports. Investigators allege that after a favored vendor failed to win a public tender, the conspirators attempted to shake down the winning bidder during product acceptance. In August 2025, a #DPSU military unit tendered 270 drone systems. The conspirators' preferred vendor submitted an 825 million UAH bid. However, competitor #LLC Tekhavtofart Yuh won the contract with a lower bid of 760 million UAH, saving the state 65 million UAH. Prior to bidding, #Stepanyan reportedly urged the competitor's director not to undercut prices, claiming authorization from DPSU leadership. Following their tender loss, the conspirators demanded a $1 million bribe to guarantee contract signing and trouble-free equipment acceptance. The kickback was to be split $700,000 for Stepanyan and $300,000 for DPSU officials. Rather than paying, the winning manufacturer reported the extortion to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (#NABU), which covertly recorded subsequent negotiations held at Kyiv's Fenix restaurant. Stepanyan holds a 25% stake in LLC Industrial Solutions and is linked to #LLC Yuvitek—a firm that secured ~2.5 billion UAH in contracts from the Defense Procurement Agency in 2025 alone. NABU detectives uncovered cryptocurrency assets held by Shapran exceeding 400,000 USDT. Investigators allege 50,000 USDT (~2.1M UAH) constituted a direct bribe from Stepanyan, while over 350,000 USDT represented 15.4 million UAH laundered through crypto exchanges between January and April 2026. A Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 registered under Shapran's wife was also seized. Initial notices of suspicion were served to Shapran and Stepanyan in May 2026, with the case expanding in September 2026 to include bribery and money laundering charges. Stepanyan’s family assets are estimated at ~310 million UAH against declared incomes of 4.6 million UAH, including real estate in the UAE and luxury vehicles. Unbelievable, but true… https://t.co/DBXK6t0vAK