Ukrainian Court Fines Chinese Drone Supplier 25 Million Hryvnia

The Commercial Court of Rivne Region ordered TOV Domprombud to pay UAH 24.88 million (0,5 million euros) to the Defence Ministry’s Defence Procurement Agency over a late drone delivery, according to a July 23 ruling cited by Ekonomichna Pravda.

The agency ordered 1,400 DJI unmanned aerial systems from Domprombud on Dec. 23, 2025, for UAH 206.08 million. The drones were ordered for later use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The contract set delivery by Jan. 12, 2026, defined as T0 plus 20 calendar days, with T0 meaning the date the contract was signed. The Defence Procurement Agency said Domprombud delivered 270 sets on Jan. 28, in breach of the deadline, and in March notified the company that it was terminating the contract unilaterally.

Domprombud said its drone supplier, AMGROUP China Co Ltd, had reported a shipping delay linked to heavier airline traffic before the New Year holidays and longer export and customs procedures. The court found that those circumstances did not qualify as force majeure and that there were no grounds to release Domprombud from liability.

“When concluding the contract, the defendant did not have at its disposal the goods it was obliged to supply and did not manufacture them, and therefore it effectively acted as an intermediary,” the court registry said. The court awarded UAH 13.24 million in penalties, UAH 11.64 million in fines and UAH 298,000 in court fee costs.

Domprombud, registered in Rivne, is owned and headed by Dmytro Domskyi from Zhytomyr region. Its main line of business is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings.