The Brave1 cluster for the development of military technologies in Ukraine, founded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, returned part of the funds provided through the court.
The Brave1 cluster for the development of military technologies in Ukraine, founded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, returned part of the funds provided through the court.
This is stated in the cases in the Unified Register of Court Decisions. In one of them, the Innovation Development Fund appealed to the Kyiv Commercial Court to recover UAH 26,526.58 from Intelli LLC, of which:
The reason is the failure to fulfill obligations under the contract for the provision of a BRAVE1 guarantor in 2023. The case notes that the total amount of the grant was UAH 181,965.50. It was determined as the total amount of expenses according to the applicant’s estimate in US dollars at the official NBU exchange rate at that time.
In June 2024, the Fund’s monitoring commission established that from October 17, 2023 to March 17, 2024, Intel incurred inadmissible expenses not provided for in the approved budget, for a total amount of UAH 29,350.09. The company returned this amount only partially (UAH 6,510.83), so the court granted the claim to return the rest.
In another case, the Innovation Development Fund filed a lawsuit against Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Datsyshyn, an individual entrepreneur, to recover UAH 191,745.23. The reason is the same — the incurrence of unjustified and unacceptable expenses.
The court found that the entrepreneur received a grant in the amount of UAH 182,843.0 in 2023. At the end of 2024, the monitoring commission analyzed his financial report and decided that he incurred inadmissible expenses in the amount of UAH 179,843.00.
Datsyshyn disagreed with the commission’s findings — he stated that he had properly fulfilled the terms of the contract and that he was not required to submit a customs declaration as evidence of receipt of the goods. The court rejected his arguments and indicated that he was required to itemize all expenses of his activities, which were financed by Brave1.
The entrepreneur was ordered to return UAH 179,843.00 of the principal debt, UAH 9,717.01 of inflation losses, and UAH 2,185.22 of 3% per annum.
Let us remind you that over the two years of its operation, the Brave1 cluster has issued over 540 grants totaling UAH 2.2 billion. For 2025, the national budget provides UAH 2.9 billion for grant support for defense tech.
In early 2025, Brave1 and the Ukrainian Startup Fund merged into the Innovation Development Fund. In June, the Ministry of Digital Affairs announced structural changes: Natalia Kushnerska, who headed Brave1 since its inception in 2023, and then the entire Innovation Development Fund, will leave her position and receive a new role in the Ministry of Digital Affairs ecosystem.
