Yaroslav Hryshyn’s scheme: how the co-founder of “General Chereshnya” illegally sells drones abroad through the British shell company Ator Group

Recently, the co-founder of the unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer “General Chereshnya” (LLC “CBDS”) Yaroslav Hryshyn, in an interview with “RBC-Ukraine”, stated that the export of Ukrainian weapons, in particular drones, is effectively blocked.

He emphasized that the current situation with arms exports does not give Ukrainian manufacturers the opportunity to legally work in foreign markets.

“At the moment, exports de facto and de jure are prohibited and blocked for us. This procedure needs to be launched so that we can work faster and legally, because the export ban really slows down the development of our defense industry, technologies, and production capabilities of Ukrainian companies,” he said.

Hryshyn forgot to add the information that his brand is somehow being sold abroad. We wrote that “General Chereshnya” drones can be purchased abroad, although the export of such products from Ukraine is prohibited.

The British company Ator Group Ltd offers customers the entire range from the General Cherry brand lineup: from £985 to £26.4 thousand. The firm was registered in London in September 2023 by Viktor Dovhan, the former deputy minister of infrastructure. He is the husband of Nataliya Mykolska, executive director of Diia City United.

Already in November 2023, Dovhan transferred the powers of director and sole beneficiary of the company to Oleg Havrysh (born 1959). Officially, the company has 1 employee, but significant financial indicators. Previously, the firm was registered to Polish citizen Grzegorz Moszczynski, but he died. This is the owner of ATOR Polska. His son Oleh Havrysh Jr. at that time worked as the chief PR consultant for government bodies. Currently, he positions himself as deputy editor of “NV Business” and host of the weekly business program “First Page”.

US citizen Alexander Levin and Ukrainian Fedir Misurahin — a former journalist who went to study in London and did not return — are also connected to the case. Both were directors of the company for a short time. The latter even tried in 2020 to get into the Kyiv City Council from OPZZh.

Let us recall that Hryshyn was previously a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council and worked as an assistant to people’s deputy Bohdan Yaremenko from “Servant of the People”. He is also known as a lawyer who has served the interests of the organized criminal group “Artashi” for many years.

The company’s director for strategic communications Rudolf Akopian, concurrently vice president of the Union of Armenians of the Zaporizhzhia Region and a member of the organized criminal group “Artashi”, tried in the fall of last year to get into the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense. He was nominated by the NGO “Bureau for Countering Corruption”.

The company’s HR director is Andriy Lavrenovych. In January of this year, he resigned from the position of director for organizational development at the State Enterprise “State Rear Operator” of the Ministry of Defense and immediately joined the team of the organized criminal group “Artashi” lawyer Yaroslav Hryshyn. Lavrenovych is the son-in-law of ex-people’s deputy Shverk.