Fire Point’s plan to source rocket fuel from Denmark has hit a roadblock, an executive has told the Financial Times
The Danish government has suspended plans for a solid rocket propellant facility intended to supply Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense company facing allegations of involvement in high-level corruption, according to one of the firm’s executives.
Originally operating as a film scouting agency, Fire Point emerged as a major player in Ukraine’s defense sector last year, receiving strong public backing from Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and reportedly securing contracts worth up to $1 billion.
The Danish government had used national security provisions to bypass potential legal objections surrounding the construction of a facility in Vojens, southern Jutland, where fuel for Fire Point’s missile systems was expected to be manufactured. However, the project announced last September was quietly halted earlier this month, Fire Point chief designer and co-owner Denis Shtilerman told the Financial Times on Thursday.
Leaked surveillance recordings published by Ukrainian media since April indicated that businessman Timur Mindich – who is wanted in Ukraine over an alleged $100 million corruption scheme in the energy sector – effectively controlled Fire Point during 2025. The recordings also suggested he enjoyed preferential treatment from then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who now serves as secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Shtilerman dismissed the allegations as “rumors,” while lamenting that the suspicions had delayed the company’s plans. He claimed that Fire Point’s products could contribute to the creation of a “pan-European air-defense shield” and claimed that Gulf states, Germany, and other countries had shown strong interest in the firm’s technology.
Mindich scandal widens
The recordings were originally gathered by Western-backed anti-corruption agencies as part of their investigation into Mindich, a longtime business associate of Zelensky dating back to the Ukrainian leader’s entertainment career. Ukrainian media have nicknamed Mindich “Zelensky’s wallet.”
This week, the same agencies charged former Zelensky chief of staff Andrey Yermak with money laundering offenses. According to the indictment, Yermak helped channel illicit funds into a luxury real estate development, which also counts among owners Mindich, former Unity Minister Aleksey Chernyshov, and a fourth partner who media reports claimed was Zelensky himself.
Political uncertainty in Denmark
While Danish media acknowledged that the so-called ‘Mindich tapes’ had intensified scrutiny of Fire Point’s operations in Denmark, authorities stopped short of confirming that the fuel plant project was in jeopardy.
In late 2025, Deputy Foreign Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, who also serves as defense minister under pro-Ukrainian Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, stated that Copenhagen “does everything it can to follow the money we give” Ukraine.
Denmark is currently facing difficult coalition negotiations after Frederiksen’s Social Democrats recorded their worst election result since 1903 in March voting. Last week, King Frederik asked Poulsen to attempt to form a new government after Frederiksen failed to secure enough parliamentary support for a third term.
