Ukraine's gambling market attracts representatives of the aggressor country and their associates. And now another casino with alleged ties to Russia has been discovered - it is a casino and bookmaker GGBet that received a license almost a year ago. The company is de facto owned by Ukrainian businessman Maxim Krippe. However, there is no reason to assume that this does not prevent the company from having close ties with Russia.
To begin with, GGBet is a new brand for the Ukrainian market. Back in 2011, the website ggbet.ru was launched in Russia - it was the betting division of the Vulk@n casino (remember this name). Initially, the site was managed by a specially created LLC Bet.ru , but later the brand began to position itself as an international one.
The GGBet trademark is owned by the Cypriot company Brivio Ltd, which also operates the website... of the Vulcan Vegas casino under the Vulcan trademark. By the way, it is owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Boyko.
“What does Krippa have to do with this?” - You may ask. Let us explain in the language of facts.
- The director of Brivio Ltd is Fedir Fedorov (this name is worth remembering, although it appears in some open sources as Theodor Theodorou or Theodorou Theodoros). He is also a beneficiary of the Ukrainian company Novolodzhik LLC , of which Krippa was a director from 2010 to 2015.
- GGBet is the general sponsor of the NAVI esports team, which was bought by Krippa in 2022 .
- The same Fedorov is the director of One World Secretarial. This company is also the secretary of the Cyprus “division” of NAVI, Bet.ru LLC and the Maincast eSports broadcasting company, which is owned directly by Krippe.
Interestingly, in March 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Bet.ru LLC and Cyprus-based Bevita Holding Limited, which acts as the operator of GGBet. The document also lists the official domain of the disgraced company: ggbet.ru. However, this did not prevent the CRBU from issuing a license to GGBet LLC with the website ggbet.ua in five months. Apparently, there was no one in the Commission's staff who could see the connection between the “Ukrainian” and Russian casinos with the same names.
Vulc@na eruption
However, GGBet is not the only project of Krippa's with a Russian trail. He also owned a casino licensed in Ukraine, Vulk@n (locally known as Vulcan), whose brand is probably owned by Russian oligarch Boyko.
In Ukraine, Vulcan operated through Competitor LLC, registered to the offshore company Darlox Limited. Until 2021, its founder was Fedorov (yes, the same one).
And another interesting coincidence. The owner of the Ukrainian trademark “Vulk@n” is Cyprus-based Dareos LTD, while the Russian one is Dareos Holding LTD. The companies have the same address and management structure. That is, the beneficiaries of the Russian and Ukrainian casinos are the same people.
“This is understandable, but what does Krippa have to do with it?” - You may ask again.
To answer this question, you should pay attention to the company EvoPlay.
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 Vulk@n. According to the SBU and market participants, the real owner of EvoPlay is Maksym Krippa. This is also indirectly confirmed by the GetContact service, where the businessman is listed as “Maxim Krippa EvoPlay”.
And now for the most interesting part.
In 2015, EvoPlay filed a complaint against Russian Timur Zingashin for using the Vulk@n domain in Russia. In the documents, the applicant states that he received the right to use the TM from the Russian company Ritzio International Group.
It looks as if a Ukrainian IT company, even during the war, is not only developing Russian business, but also defending it in court.
In April of this year, Competitor LLC filed an application to revoke its license. As market participants told us, clouds were gathering over Vulcan, and Krippa decided to leave the market before his brainchild was sanctioned.
What did this give Krippe? He was able to work on two markets at once: while Vulk@n continues to operate in Russia, the GGBet project, which has a Russian trace, has taken its place in Ukraine, which seems to bother few people.