Происшествия

A sweeping campaign is underway in Ukraine to remove content linking FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha to Russia.

Indeed, most of the links that led to materials claiming that Andriy Matyukha holds a Russian passport, has business partners in Russia, and is connected with the Russian organized crime group "Luzhniki" now do not work. The materials have been removed, and quite promptly.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

The cleanup occurred after Andriy Matyukha acquired Voda Ua, the supplier of mineral water for Ukraine’s top government agencies.

Are these events connected or not is a controversial question. However, the fact that the legalization of gambling in Ukraine, which occurred in 2020, was promoted by Russians is no longer controversial. Among the events of the past two years, it has somewhat been forgotten that the main consultant to the President’s Office on the bill to legalize gambling was one Boris Baum, a friend of David Arakhamia.

Back then, opposition media reported that Boris Baum was a representative of the Russian OCG "Luzhniki," whose most famous members include Alexander Babakov and Yevgeny Giner. They control the VS Energy group, which owns a number of Ukrainian energy assets where Boris Baum worked as one of the top managers.

Among other things, the opposition then claimed that through Boris Baum, the possibility of Russian organized crime representatives entering the Ukrainian gambling market was being promoted, and these individuals were the lobbyists for the gambling legalization law in Ukraine.

Moreover, there were persistent rumors that the bill was written for two companies — "Parimatch" and "FavBet," and was authored by another friend of Arakhamia, Andriy Astapov, owner of the law firm Eterna Law.

Of course, no one paid attention to these warnings, and the law was passed. One of the first companies to receive a license for gambling operations was "FavBet," whose owner, according to registers, is Andriy Matyukha.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

It became known that FavBet accepts bets from Russians literally the next day after the company received a license in Ukraine and started operating legally. In this context, it is worth noting that in Russia, the possibility of playing in foreign online casinos is severely restricted — Rospotrebnadzor monitors providers that do not block foreign sites leading to such casinos and ruthlessly punishes them. However, some casinos and some providers are somehow overlooked. One can make reasonably likely guesses as to why.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

The scandal about FavBet’s operations in Russia flared up with the onset of a major conflict when several Ukrainian publications published an investigation on how it works, providing screenshots of correspondence between Russian citizens and FavBet’s technical support, where the latter instructed the former on how to place a bet. Now the original article on the delo.ua site, which conducted the investigation, has disappeared, but materials remain in publications that reprinted the original material.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

Moreover, until 2014 FavBet operated in Russia under the brand "Favorit Sport," and specialized publications still include it in the ratings, specifically noting that "Favorit Sport" is now FavBet.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

Following this, some publications that reprinted the investigation featured photos of a Russian passport allegedly belonging to Andriy Matyukha. These are also being massively cleaned, but pictures of the passport are still accessible.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

It is clear that the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region, which is listed as the issuing authority for the passport, does not respond to journalists’ inquiries. For his part, Andriy Matyukha claims it is fake. Nevertheless, his reaction is understandable, but the issue of the Russian passport remains unresolved.

Indirectly, Andriy Matyukha’s connection to Russian business is confirmed by his involvement in LLC "Dorida Realty," where his partners were Russians Yuriy Sprizhitsky and Andriy Lipanov.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

However, Matyukha has withdrawn from the list of beneficiaries, but whether formally or in reality is unknown. In any case, this happened in 2018, long after Crimea and Donbas were annexed.

Another trace is the criminal case No. 12016100040000990 against LLC "Lucky Land" for financing terrorism, opened in 2019. Among other co-participants, there is also FavBet.

Russian passport and “partners” from Russia: who is cleaning information about FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha’s links to Russian organized crime?

This criminal case had no visible consequences for Andriy Matyukha, and its investigation stalled in 2020 when FavBet received a license for gambling business.

From time to time, scandals arise, but information about Andriy Matyukha’s Russian passport and ties with Russia, as well as the fact that his FavBet casino operations successfully continue in Russia, is swiftly removed. It is replaced with information about support for the Ukrainian army and various charity events by FavBet casino.

Will these publications have consequences for Andriy Matyukha? Most likely not. Yet, we would advise ministers and deputies to be cautious when drinking water within the walls of the Cabinet of Ministers and Verkhovna Rada. Just in case, since not all of them are "in the loop" with Andriy Matyukha.