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Denys Shtilerman (Photo: Fire Point / Defender Media)
Investors from the United Arab Emirates want to buy a stake
in Ukrainian defense contractor Fire
Point, company chief designer and current owner Denys Shtilerman told the
Ukrainian parliament on May 25.
Speaking to of a temporary parliamentary investigative committee examining potential corruption in the defense industry, Shtilerman said the deal is currently under review by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU).
Asked how negotiations with the UAE had concluded, he answered “Nothing — the matter is now under review at the AMCU,” Interfax-Ukraine reported.
Shtilerman was grilled on whether Fire Point has any ties to fugitive businessman Tymur Mindich, wanted by law enforcement for corruption. Shtilerman confirmed he and Mindich were nearing a deal for a 50% stake “at market value minus 20%.” Shtilerman said the deal fell through in 2025 when UAE investors approached him with a better offer.
Mindich tried to counter by teaming up with another partner, but Shtilerman said he refused the updated arrangement.
“Afterwards, [Mindich partner Vladislav] Tsukerman, who also was at the meeting, named the new partner, and I told them: ‘sorry lads, but with this kind of shareholder neither you nor I will have a business,” he told the committee.
“So let’s remain friendly and never revisit this question. I’ll just sell my stake to the Arabs and that’s it.”
He said the proposed UAE deal would allow him to “cash out”
and then reinvest those funds into a joint venture with the UAE to build a
spaceport there, a plan that would require Ukrainian government approval.
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