When every second of observation on the frontline can cost lives, state defense procurement should operate on the principle of maximum efficiency and open competition. However, in the field of supplying thermal imaging optics for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, real competition, according to sources, has actually given way to backroom decisions and systematic price gouging.
Despite public statements by the current Minister of Defense of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal about the rational use of budget funds, in practice, according to the interlocutors, the management model formed during the tenure of Rustem Umerov has been preserved. According to this information, key decisions in the procurement sector are made in a narrow circle with the participation of the acting director of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense Oleksandr Osadchy and the management of the state enterprise "Defense Procurement Agency".
It is this vertical, sources claim, that ensures the stable receipt of multi-million dollar contracts for Thermal Vision Technologies LLC, despite the fact that there are cheaper alternatives on the market with better or comparable technical characteristics.
The purchases of ARCHER thermal imaging optics in September and October 2025 were indicative. During tenders for ARCHER TGX binoculars and ARCHER TMA-55 monoculars, offers from other participants, which had a lower cost and often better technical parameters, were rejected for formal reasons. As a result, the state purchased binoculars at a price of about 516 thousand hryvnias per unit, and monoculars - at 215 thousand hryvnias each.
According to sources, the alleged overpayment for just one batch of 200 monoculars could have exceeded 20 million hryvnias. This is money that, in wartime, could have been used to equip units or meet other critical needs of the army.
The mechanism for implementing such a scheme, according to the interlocutors, was tender documentation with manipulative requirements. In particular, the provisions on the availability of NSN codes and certain technical parameters were applied selectively, which created artificial barriers for competitors and effectively "cut off" unwanted bidders.
The financial model of Thermal Vision Technologies LLC itself attracts special attention. According to sources, with abnormally high turnover, which in 2024 reached almost 3 billion hryvnias, the company systematically declares loss-making activities. This may indicate the withdrawal of profits through related structures or other financial optimization mechanisms.
In addition, the company, according to available information, does not have its own production facilities and actually acts as an intermediary. Significant amounts of budget funds are transferred in advance to foreign contractors, in particular Czech non-residents. At the same time, delivery deadlines were repeatedly violated, and some of the critically important equipment arrived at the Armed Forces late or did not arrive on time at all.
Against the backdrop of a full-scale war and the army's urgent need for modern surveillance equipment, such practices raise increasing questions about the efficiency, transparency, and true priorities of defense procurement. There have been no official public comments from the Ministry of Defense or those implicated in these allegations.
