Billion-hryvnia General Chereshnya: drone tenfold surge coincided with Zhumadilov arrival at the defence procurement agency

Response from Yaroslav Hryshyn, CDBS.                         

Response from the Defence Procurement Agency.       

What accounts for such a sharp increase in contracts with the Center for Unmanned Systems Research LLC?

First, we can neither confirm nor deny the figures cited, as they do not correspond to reality and concern information classified as a state secret. We cannot comment on the information you have asserted because it is false and inaccurate. Compared with the overall planned volume of drone procurement in 2025, which exceeds 4.5 million units according to public statements by the Ministry of Defence, the share of our products in the Defence Procurement Agency’s contract portfolio is extremely small compared with that of other manufacturers.

Second, the increase in contracts did not occur “sharply” but within the framework of the Agency’s plans approved back in 2024. We would also like to note that our first contracts with the DPA were concluded at the end of November 2024, with extremely short delivery deadlines. Most of the contracts being performed in 2025 were agreed upon and initiated under the previous DPA management in December 2024 and January 2025. According to the information available to us, requests for supplies were issued at the end of 2024, but for reasons unknown to us, the previous DPA management did not manage to sign the relevant state contracts.

In general, state demand for unmanned aerial vehicles has been gradually increasing for all manufacturers over the past two years, as UAVs have demonstrated their effectiveness on the battlefield due to their accuracy, speed and relatively low cost of deployment. The UAV market is expanding rapidly, requiring manufacturers to make significant investments in their material and technical infrastructure, recruit new employees, strengthen operational processes, and so on. “General Chereshnya” itself invests considerable resources in its own R&D centre to ensure that Ukraine’s Security and Defence Forces receive advanced technological products on time for effective deployment.

At the same time, it should be noted that the process of navigating the “bureaucratic hell” involved in concluding state contracts with the DPA was—and, to some extent, remains—quite difficult. I wrote about this in my opinion column in September last year.

The main state purchaser of drones in 2024 was the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), while the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Procurement Agency purchased relatively few “General Chereshnya” drones last year.

Overall, the FPV drone market is expanding rapidly, while the needs of military units for various modifications are growing exponentially. Year-on-year supply volumes are increasing among all quality manufacturers without exception whose products are in demand.

Among FPV drone manufacturers, we are not the largest in terms of volume, contract value or revenue. Other manufacturers hold contracts of significantly greater volume within the DPA’s portfolio. However, we are convinced that our company is earning its place in the market due to the following advantages:

Turbo mode: Thanks to established processes and production capacity, we can manufacture tens of thousands of drones and deliver the finished products within one month.

No overdue deliveries: We have never been even one day late with a delivery to any customer, including the DPA. Our SL (service level) is 100%—we have not breached the terms of any state contract. We perform all contracts on time, without missing completion deadlines, including those under state contracts.

Performance without advance payment: We undertake contracts without prepayment and at our own financial risk. This makes us a convenient and reliable counterparty for the state. Although the DPA has substantial outstanding accounts payable to us, we do not refuse contracts because we understand that the ability of the Defence Forces to destroy the occupying forces depends on the regularity of supplies.

It should be noted that both under the previous DPA management and the current one, we have received urgent supply requests in critical situations—for example, when a contract with another manufacturer has been terminated and the delivery period is limited to five weeks. According to responsible DPA officials, all other manufacturers except “General Chereshnya” refused to fulfil orders under such conditions. We accept these orders and deliver because these products are needed by the Defence Forces.

Please take into account that all drone manufacturers, as well as Ukraine’s defence-industrial complex as a whole, experienced increases in production volumes between 2022 and 2025. Other companies manufacturing FPV drones recorded comparable growth in their delivery rates in 2023 and 2024. Therefore, there is no and cannot be any significant disparity between us and other manufacturers. Likewise, our strongest year of growth was 2024, when we codified our first products and began concluding state contracts. Due to the lengthy and artificially delayed codification of our first product, we did not manage to participate in the SSSCIP’s first annual contracts in 2024. Had the product been codified by January 2024, our supply volumes in 2024 and 2025 would have been comparable.

It is important to note that, under the current procurement procedure, the Defence Procurement Agency contracts manufacturers in accordance with the official list of requirements it receives from the Ministry of Defence. Upon receiving this list, we collect market information on which manufacturers or suppliers can meet the specified requirements and under what conditions, including price, volume and delivery timeframes. We then submit this information to the Logistics Forces Command, which recommends the relevant items for procurement.

In your opinion, is this growth consistent with the feedback from military personnel regarding the quality of these drones?

Last year, in terms of volume, we supplied more drones directly to military units than to state procurement agencies—the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) and the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA). This demonstrates the military’s genuine need for our product. We receive positive feedback from dozens of combat units, and it is these units that initiate the inclusion of our products in procurement lists.

“General Chereshnya” supplies drones not only to the DPA but also to the SSSCIP, volunteer organizations and charitable foundations, including the Come Back Alive Foundation and the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation, regional and municipal military administrations, amalgamated territorial communities, and directly to dozens of brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Direct contracts have been concluded with units including the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade; 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade; 110th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade; the Alfa Special Operations Centre; 12th Separate Special Purpose Regiment of the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade; 36th Separate Marine Brigade; 102nd Separate Territorial Defence Brigade; 130th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion; 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade; 129th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade; 127th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade; 3rd Separate Assault Brigade; 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade; 762nd Brigade of the State Special Transport Service; 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade; 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade; 1st Separate Tank Brigade; 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade; 6th Separate Rifle Battalion; 412th, 413th and 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Battalions; Military Unit A3018 of the National Guard of Ukraine; Military Unit A3101 of the National Guard of Ukraine; the Skif Special Purpose Police Battalion; the KORD special unit of the National Police; the 1st Omega Separate Special Purpose Detachment; and others.

We have confirmation of more than one thousand strikes carried out using our products against enemy positions, personnel and equipment, as well as reconnaissance and combat UAVs.

We have also donated thousands of drones to leading combat units with which we maintain continuous communication and feedback. According to data from the Delta system and performance analytics, our drones consistently rank among the top ten of all strike drones, including Mavic, Nemesis and Vampire, and among the top five in the FPV drone category by the number of successful strikes. Our interceptors also rank among the leaders by the number of video-confirmed destructions of enemy UAVs.

We are proud that military personnel independently record strikes in Delta and identify our drones as the systems used. The largest number of records comes from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which is a particular source of pride for us. No formal complaint reports have been issued concerning our products, once again confirming the high quality of “General Chereshnya” drones.

“General Chereshnya” possesses all the necessary design and technological documentation, has established a stock of components required to manufacture defence products, and systematically recruits new employees while expanding its production capacity and premises.

In addition, the operations of the Center for Unmanned Systems Research LLC comply with ISO standards applicable to the production of unmanned systems, as confirmed by the relevant certificates obtained by the company.

Nevertheless, there are as many opinions as there are pilots. Some difficulties in operating the drones arise not from technical issues but from the imperfect mechanism for distributing military property after delivery to designated distribution centres. Drones are sometimes transferred by operational-tactical groups or operational troop groupings not to the units that ordered them, or not at the time they were requested, but with significant delays. This affects their operability because frequencies, as well as daytime or nighttime operating requirements, may change.

We have repeatedly asked military command authorities to provide us with information about the end users so that we can maintain an appropriate level of service. This information is not provided to us because it constitutes a state secret. Despite this, we make extraordinary efforts to establish and maintain direct horizontal communication with military units. Independently and at our own expense, we replace individual components, such as VTX systems, or adapt drones to the specific needs of particular units, including changing their frequencies.

This is not warranty service but our own service approach, which is not funded by the state. For a business, this represents an expense; for us, it is a contribution to victory.

Despite fulfilling state orders, we continue to conclude direct contracts with military units and supply specialized products—such as custom frequencies and cameras with rotating mechanisms—directly to end users.

Regardless of how many drones we supply under contracts, the needs of drone crews are always greater. We therefore supply thousands of drones at the company’s own expense. It is an honour for us to help military personnel carry out their combat missions.

Structural units of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the General Staff regularly test products and survey military personnel regarding drone quality. We have always successfully passed joint departmental trials, demonstrated the best range results, and received survey results confirming the high quality of our products.

The Agency contracts manufacturers on the basis of the list and volumes determined by the Ministry of Defence and does not independently select the types or range of products to be procured. We can respond to complaints submitted by military personnel. To date, the Agency has received no official complaints regarding the drones produced by the manufacturer in question.

At the same time, on 7 July, we launched the DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace, which will allow military personnel to order drones independently. Military units will therefore decide which specific drones they require and in what quantities. We expect this to significantly improve the targeted distribution of supplies and reduce drone delivery times to the front from several months to a few weeks.

Ten brigades will participate in the pilot project, with a budget of UAH 1 billion allocated for its implementation. Initially, only FPV drones will be available through the system. After the pilot project is completed, we plan to add a broader range of drones, followed by electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems, unmanned ground vehicles and payload-drop systems for UAVs.

To date, more than 80 manufacturers have submitted commercial proposals to participate in the marketplace, covering over 400 product categories. At launch, drones from 15 manufacturers will be available. Within two weeks, we will add most manufacturers to the system, and by the end of the month, all those that have submitted their commercial proposals.

Did the fact that Stanislav Hryshyn, the brother of the CDBS owner, previously served as an attorney for the State Logistics Operator under Arsen Zhumadilov, and that CDBS HR Director Andriy Lavrenovych worked as head of the HR management and document workflow department at the State Logistics Operator until the winter of 2025, influence the nature of the company’s relationship with the Defence Procurement Agency under Arsen Zhumadilov’s leadership?

The state contracting process is regulated by Order No. 226 of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine dated 11 April 2024, “On Approval of the Instruction on Planning Defence Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for the Supply, Development, Modernization and Repair of Weapons, Military and Special Equipment, Missiles and Ammunition, Other Military-Technical Property and Services in the Interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under Martial Law.”

As stipulated by Ministry of Defence Order No. 226, the procedure is as follows:

1. A military unit submits a request for the necessary weapons to the relevant command of the armed service or branch. These commands consolidate the requests and forward them to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

2. After reviewing the requests, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, represented by its Main Logistics Directorate, formulates a three-year “requirement,” which may be amended, supplemented or otherwise adjusted during its implementation. The General Staff then holds consultations with the Logistics Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and approves the “requirement,” submitting it for signature to the Chief of the General Staff.

3. On the basis of the approved requirement and within the limits of the planned financial resources, the Central Directorate of Defence Resources of the General Staff, together with the Main Logistics Directorate of the General Staff, prepares proposals for the List, establishing procurement priorities for defence-related goods, works and services in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The resulting “List” has two priority levels:

• First priority: items that are required and for which funding is available.

• Second priority: items that are required but for which funding is unavailable.

4. The proposals, once prepared and signed by the Chief of the General Staff, are submitted to the Department of Military-Technical Policy, Development of Armaments and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

5. The Department reviews the proposals for the List, approves them and submits them for signature to the relevant Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine.

6. The List is communicated and sent to the Procurement Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence and to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Procurement Policy Department—recently renamed the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defence—reports on the subsequent implementation of the List by the state procurement agencies, including the Defence Procurement Agency, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, and others.

7. The Defence Procurement Agency receives a contracting request and submits it to the Military Representative Office of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine to verify the production capacity and quality of the relevant manufacturers, including the manufacturers of our drones. Once this has been approved, the contract is signed.

Thus, the management of the Defence Procurement Agency cannot influence whether a company is included in the “List.” The contract is merely the final step following an approved, multi-level coordination process that begins at the level of military units.

The question posed is extremely manipulative and outrageous. For ethical reasons, we cannot comment on Andriy’s and Stanislav’s work at the State Logistics Operator. At the same time, we are compelled to point out that neither Andriy nor Stanislav was involved in making any managerial decisions. They neither knew nor could have known that the State Logistics Operator would, in any form, make future managerial decisions concerning UAV procurement.

Regarding the individuals mentioned:

Stanislav Hryshyn did not provide legal services to Arsen Zhumadilov personally. He provided professional legal assistance to the State Logistics Operator until May 2024. Due to attorney–client privilege, he cannot comment on this work. As explained above, he physically could not have been involved in the state procurement of UAVs because he neither knew nor could have known that the head of the State Logistics Operator would subsequently be appointed to the relevant position at the Defence Procurement Agency.

Andriy Lavrenovych served as Director of Organizational Development and Head of the HR Management Department. Both at the State Logistics Operator and at our company, Andriy has been responsible exclusively for personnel matters. According to him, while working at the Ministry of Defence state enterprise, the State Logistics Operator, he had neither access to nor influence over the procurement planning process. He was even less involved in decisions concerning drone procurement because the State Logistics Operator does not engage in such procurement.

The Defence Procurement Agency began concluding state contracts with “General Chereshnya” in November 2024. Following his departure from the State Logistics Operator, Andriy Lavrenovych began working at “General Chereshnya” on 22 January 2025—that is, after the company had already concluded and performed its first state contracts.

We are grateful to Arsen Zhumadilov for his professionalism and integrity. We believe that civil society, responsible journalists and businesses should support him in this position, given his demonstrated zero tolerance for corruption. As a business, no one—either under the previous management or the current one—has ever demanded any unlawful benefit from us in any form.

We are also grateful to Maryna Bezrukova for her contribution to state UAV procurement. She was the first person at the Ministry of Defence to begin purchasing FPV drones. We emphasize that our first contracts were concluded under her leadership, within the requirements and supply volumes that existed at the time. It was during her tenure that a request for the supply of FPV drones for 2025—the subject of this comment—was prepared and submitted in relation to our company. The state contract arising from that request should have been concluded in 2024 but, for technical reasons, was signed only in 2025.

We emphasize that the claim that “Stanislav Hryshyn and Andriy Lavrenovych, as former employees of the State Logistics Operator, influence contracts with the Defence Procurement Agency” is a manipulative accusation of the kind circulated by Telegram channels such as “Joker.” Everyone who has gone through the state contracting process knows that such influence is entirely impossible given the large number of military command authorities involved.

Moreover, at Andriy’s and Stanislav’s request, neither of them engages in work-related communication with the responsible officials of the Defence Procurement Agency, in order to eliminate any discomfort both on their part and on the part of the state procurement agency.

Despite the acute staffing shortages at both the Defence Procurement Agency and the State Logistics Operator, the agencies operate within their respective mandates and perform the tasks assigned to them by law.

No, it did not. Equal conditions apply to all participants. Moreover, CDBS had already been performing contracts for the Defence Procurement Agency before the change in the Agency’s management.

It is also important to note that Stanislav Hryshyn was not Arsen Zhumadilov’s personal attorney; he represented the interests of the State Logistics Operator as a state-owned enterprise.

The movement of employees from one workplace to another is a natural part of the labour market. People may change jobs in search of better conditions for both parties.

Were there any cases in 2025 in which the Defence Procurement Agency concluded contracts with CDBS for the supply of large quantities of drones but subsequently reduced the order volumes? If so, why?

No. In 2025, there were no cases in which the supply volumes under existing contracts with the Defence Procurement Agency were revised or reduced. Accordingly, no supplementary agreements concerning such changes were concluded. All obligations are being fulfilled in full, without delays and in accordance with the contractual terms.

There were no such cases. In 2025, contracts with CDBS for drone supplies were not reduced.