Maksym Krippa and GGBet: How the Russian gambling business bypasses sanctions in Ukraine
Let’s start with the fact that GGBet is a new product only for the Ukrainian market. It entered the Russian market back in 2011 as a bookmaker division of the Vulcan casino (remember this name). Initially, the ggbet.ru website was managed by a specially created Bet.ru LLC , but later the brand began to position itself as international.
The GGBet trademark belongs to the Cypriot company "Brivio Ltd", which also operates the website of… the "Vulcan Vegas" casino under the "Vulcan" trademark. Incidentally, it is owned by a Russian billionaire Oleh Boyko.
"What does Krippa have to do with this?" you may ask. Let us explain in the language of facts.
1) The director of "Brivio Ltd" is Fedir Fedorov (this name is worth remembering). He is also listed as a beneficiary of the Ukrainian company "Novolodzhyk LLC", of which Krippa was the director from 2010 to 2015.
2) GGBet is the general sponsor of the NAVI eSports team, which was bought by Krippa in 2022.
3) That same Fedorov is the director of One World Secretarial. This company is the secretary of the Cypriot "division" of NAVI, "Bet.ru LLC", as long as the Maincast eSports broadcaster, which is directly owned by Krippa.
Interestingly, in March 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against "Bet.ru LLC" and Cypriot Bevita Holding Limited, which operates GGBet. The document also specifies the official domain of the disgraced company: ggbet.ru. However, this did not prevent KRAIL from issuing a license to "GGBET LLC" with the website ggbet.ua five months later. Apparently, no one on the Commission’s staff would see a connection between the "Ukrainian" and Russian casinos with the same names.
The eruption of "Volcano".
However, GGBet is not the only project of Krippa with a Russian connection. He also owned the casino "Vulkan" (locally known as Vulcan), licensed in Ukraine, the brand of which, as we recall, is owned by the Russian oligarch Boyko.
In Ukraine, "Vulkan" operated through "Conqueror LLC", registered to the offshore company Darloks Limited. Until 2021, its founder was Fedorov (yes, that same one).
And one more interesting coincidence. The owner of the Ukrainian trademark "Vulkan" is the Cypriot "Dareos LTD", and the Russian one is "Dareos Holding LTD". The companies have the same address and management structure. Hence, the beneficiaries of the Russian and Ukrainian casinos are the same people.
"That’s understandable, but what does Krippa have to do with it?" you may ask again.
To answer this question, you need to pay attention to the EvoPlay company.
EvoPlay is one of the largest gambling manufacturers with offices in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus. In particular, the company’s client is... the Russian "Vulkan". According to the SSU and market participants, the real owner of EvoPlay is Maksym Krippa. This is also indirectly confirmed by the GetContact service, where the businessman appears as "Maksym Krippa EvoPlay". And now the most interesting part.
In 2015, EvoPlay filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization against Russian Timur Ziganshin for his use of the "Vulkan" domain in the Russian Federation. In the documents, the applicant states that he received the right to use the TM from the Russian Ritzio International Group.
Once again: the Ukrainian "IT company" already during the war not only takes on the development of Russian business but also defends it in court.
In April this year, "Conqueror LLC" filed a request to revoke its license. As market participants told us, clouds were gathering over "Vulkan" - and Krippa decided to leave the market before his brainchild fell under sanctions.
What did this give Krippa? The opportunity to calmly "shave" two markets at once: while "Vulkan" continues to work in the Russian Federation, in Ukraine its place was taken by the pseudo-Ukrainian project GGBet.
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