From gambling to medicine: who is behind the Odesa clinic Odrex, which is linked to patient deaths. Part 1
Kyiv • UNN
After the death of Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan, the Odrex clinic replaced its license, and its founders were found to be connected to the gambling business. The clinic's owners, including Iryna Zaykova and Tigran Arutyunyan, had a joint business manufacturing slot machines before establishing the medical facility.
Medical House "Odrex" came under close scrutiny from law enforcement and society after the death of Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan. When the investigation into his death became public, it turned out that the clinic might be linked to several other cases of patient deaths, allegedly caused by the actions of doctors. UNN decided to find out who is behind the clinic.
The general director of the "Odrex" clinic is Tigran Harutyunyan, an Odesa entrepreneur of Armenian origin. However, he is not the sole owner, and various LLCs and even an insurance company are united under a common signboard.
Change of licenses and enterprises
Just yesterday, the clinic's website displayed a Ministry of Health license issued to LLC "Medical House "Odrex", whose general director is the aforementioned Harutyunyan. He is also a co-owner of this enterprise with a share of just over 20%. Another 17.5% belongs to Larysa Mysotska, a small share of 0.23% belongs to Yevhen Savitsky, and over 61% is owned by Iryna Zaikova.
However, probably due to a Ministry of Health inspection initiated because of possible violations in the clinic's activities, the license was replaced. Now, the website displays a license issued to LLC "Center of Medicine" indefinitely back in 2012. "Center of Medicine" has the same founders as "Medical House "Odrex", founded, according to YouControl data, after the criminal proceedings were opened in June 2025. Within a month, this company received permission from the Ministry of Health to conduct medical activities and, in fact, replaced LLC "House of Medicine" - the company under whose license the Odrex clinic had operated for many years before. The clinic provided its services as "House of Medicine" at the time of Adnan Kivan's death.
The head of LLC "House of Medicine" was Harutyunyan, and he was also a co-founder along with the aforementioned Savitsky, Mysotska, and Zaikova. Currently, the ownership structure and the company's head have been changed.
Association of Gambling Business Figures and 2,000 LLCs per person
Larysa Mysotska and Iryna Zaikova, according to open data, have significant stakes in the Ukrainian Association of Gambling Business Figures, and in the list of founders of this Association, we found Firm "Odrex" in the form of a limited liability company.
Despite the fact that this company acted as a founder of the Association of Gambling Business Figures, its main activity is the production of medical and dental instruments and materials. It also has the right to produce specialized equipment, manufacture and sell furniture, engage in computer programming, and produce games and toys. The head and founder of this firm "Odrex" in the form of an LLC is Ruslan Merzlyakov from Donetsk.
In open sources, we found almost 2,000 (!) companies to which Ruslan Merzlyakov (registered at the same address in Donetsk, which confirms that it is all the same person) has or had a connection as a manager or co-owner. The profiles of activities of legal entities vary: these include law firms, trading and construction companies, advertising agencies, and a business center, etc. A logical question arises: is Ruslan Merzlyakov such a powerful businessman or just a figurehead?
The firm "Odrex" itself, in the form of an LLC, had trademarks registered - two of which are related to gambling. It is noteworthy that Tigran Harutyunyan was previously the head of this firm. And the aforementioned Mysotska and Zaikova previously acted as co-owners.
"Nevada" on Rozkydaylivska in Odesa or how "Odrex" began
There is little information about Iryna Zaikova in the media. One of the first links leads to an article about the rating of successful women in Odesa region, compiled in 2019. Zaikova was included in this rating in the "Business" category with the note "Hero Mother, founder of Medical House Odrex". And another link leads to an article stating that Iryna Zaikova is a co-owner of 18 companies and may be connected with the head of the Odesa seaport trade union Volodymyr Zaikov and ex-MP, former head of the same port Mykola Pavlyuk, who was suspected of embezzling state funds.
This article also partially describes the history of "Odrex" before this name was adopted by a private clinic. It states that the firm "Odrex" was opened in Odesa back in 1997 and, under the guise of manufacturing slot machines, repaired old ones imported from abroad. This company was registered at 69/71 Rozkydaylivska Street in Odesa, where, by the way, all three firms mentioned in the story about the license change are currently officially registered.
By the early 2000s, as journalists write, the firm "Odrex" nevertheless began to produce slot machines and produced up to 4,000 "one-armed bandits" per year, some of which were exported; gaming tables and roulette wheels were also produced.
From the same article, we learn that Tigran Harutyunyan, Leonid Kuchuk, and Iryna Zaikova were co-owners of the slot machine manufacturing firm.
In 2001, according to journalists, Kuchuk and Harutyunyan founded the firm "Nevada", which was to manage its own gambling halls. "Nevada" was registered at the same address on Rozkydaylivska. Later, this firm was re-registered to the Panamanian offshore company "DVD AG Corporation."
In 2009, after the tragedy in a gambling hall in Dnipro, the authorities decided to "cut off the oxygen" to the gambling business. The then "Odrex" and "Nevada" faced a challenge that forced the owners to reorganize the business. In particular, the "Odrex" insurance company was opened, and in 2012, the clinic of the same name.
Signs that the facts presented in the article took place can still be found in open registries. For example, Zaikova was a co-owner of "Nevada" (which is still registered on Rozkydaylivska), the firm "Odrex" is a co-founder of the Association of Gambling Business Figures, which includes the clinic's co-owners. Two variants of the "Odrex" trademark, under which, among other things, slot machine gaming services were provided, are registered to Zaikova.
Against the backdrop of the scandal surrounding the clinic and the emergence of testimonies from relatives of affected and deceased patients of the clinic, regarding the medical institution's siphoning of money, a logical question arises: have the clinic's owners transferred their old habit of "milking" clients from the gambling business to the medical one?
Read more about who is behind the Odrex clinic in the next materials of UNN.