Behind the facade of the private medical clinic Odrex stands a business with a gambling past, a complex ownership structure, and individuals involved in criminal proceedings. Read about how money from slot machines turned into a medical business and who truly controls the clinic in this UNN material.
The history of Odrex is not just a change of a sign on the facade from "spin the drum - win millions" to "rectal ultrasound minus 40% off the price." It's a story of how people who for years profited from gambling and ludomania, at a certain point found themselves in the role of those providing treatment to Ukrainians. The market conditions changed, the market changed – but the business logic and approach to making money did not.
Against the backdrop of patient deaths, criminal proceedings, and testimonies from relatives who speak of financial pressure and improper treatment at the clinic, the question becomes increasingly acute: should people with such a background even work in a field where the price of a mistake is a human life?
From slot machines – to a medical license
The history of the Odrex brand, which today positions itself as a modern private clinic, did not begin with medicine at all. As UNN wrote, since the late 1990s, a company called "Odrex" operated in Odesa, engaged in the repair and later the production of slot machines. The firm was registered at Rozkydailivska Street – the very address where companies through which the Odrex clinic operates are officially "registered" today.
Tigran Harutyunyan, Leonid Kuchuk, and Iryna Zaikova were co-owners of the business that manufactured gaming machines. In the 2000s, the enterprise reached industrial scales: according to a UNN investigation, it produced up to several thousand machines per year, manufactured roulette wheels and gaming tables, and exported some of its products abroad.
In 2001, Harutyunyan and Kuchuk went further and founded the company "Nevada," which managed its own gambling halls. The firm was registered at the same address as "Odrex," and later – re-registered to an offshore company. Thus, the production of slot machines and the network of gambling halls actually developed within a single business circuit.
A turning point in the gambling business came in 2009 – after the tragedy in Dnipro, the state effectively banned slot machines and halls. Then the businessmen began to reorganize their assets. First, the insurance company "Odrex" appeared, and already in 2012 – a medical structure with the same name, which received a perpetual license from the Ministry of Health, which is still valid. Read more about the gambling origin of the brand and the first business steps of the owners in the first part of the UNN investigation.
The gambling trail that never disappeared
Despite the public medical facade, a clear gambling "handwriting" can still be traced in the business biographies of the clinic's co-owners. As the UNN investigation showed, Iryna Zaikova and Larysa Mysotska have significant shares in the Ukrainian Association of Gambling Business Figures, among whose founders is also the company "Odrex" in the form of an LLC.
In addition to Zaikova being registered for the "Odrex" trademarks, under which gambling services were previously provided, she is also listed as the inventor of useful models and technical solutions for accepting bets and providing bookmaking services.
Moreover, some companies associated with the clinic's co-owners were also involved in criminal proceedings – particularly regarding money laundering and participation in conversion schemes.
Questions about medical ethics and business model
The facts gathered during the UNN investigation indicate that the brand, which today positions itself as a modern medical institution, has its origins in the gambling industry. The field of activity and the sign have changed, but the people and business approaches behind the project have remained unchanged.
Given the problem exposed by the bloody trail behind the Odrex clinic, the question arises: shouldn't the private medical industry of Ukraine be examined more closely? After all, the "Odrex Case" may not be a problem of dozens of patient deaths, but a characteristic of an entire industry.
In the conditions of a full-scale war, when Ukrainians lose their lives at the front every day, society expects that medicine in the rear will be a space of salvation, not additional risks. That is why any signals of possible systemic failures, financial pressure on patients, or improper treatment should become the subject of immediate state attention. The final assessment of these facts should be given by official inspections of the Ministry of Health and decisions of responsible bodies.