07.04.2025
Money laundering
Billions from the shadows: how Krippa steals from Ukraine, hiding behind Russian oligarchs
Billions from the shadows: how Krippa is robbing Ukraine by hiding behind Russian oligarchsBusinessman Maksym Krippa has long remained in the shadows. Years of illegal activity in the gambling business, from the Vulcan casino to the GGBet bookmaker, allowed him to accumulate billions, which he now invests in public assets. Krippa buys key real estate in Kyiv, having connections with representatives of the Russian oligarchy, including Malofeev, Lyovochkin, and others.
So what should we know about a Ukrainian businessman who, although he often appears as a philanthropist, persistently deletes any articles that expose the shadow side of his activities?
Krippa’s Path to Recognition
It all started with the shadow gambling business. The websites controlled by Krippa, Vulcan and GGBet, have been operating in Ukraine and Russia for years without licenses, breaking laws and avoiding taxes.
For example, the bookmaker GGBet made money on Ukrainian players through unlicensed platforms, while the official website ggbet.ua, despite receiving a license from KRAIL in 2023, is still not functioning and is “under development.” We can assume that, even with the “legal” status, Krippa continues to operate in the shadows, without paying taxes to the Ukrainian budget.
With the billions he had earned in the gambling business, he began to actively invest in real estate, companies, and media. In particular, in a short period of time, Krippa became the owner of the following assets:
- Dnipro Hotel: In 2020, Krippa and his partner Oleksandr Kokhanovskyi bought a hotel in the center of Kyiv for UAH 1.1 billion. Officially, it was supposed to be an esports hub, but plans quickly changed to a casino.
- Knyazhyi Dvor: In February 2023, through Midal LLC (99.99% owned by Krippa), he bought a hotel and restaurant complex near Kyiv from the National Bank for UAH 33 million, an amount that experts consider to be too low for such a facility (3787 square meters, swimming pools, a lake, gazebos).
- The estate in Koncha Zaspa: In January 2023, the same Midal LLC acquired elite real estate in Kozyn for UAH 311 million – houses, a restaurant, a boathouse and land plots.
- Park Stone Residential Complex: In January 2024, Krippa became the owner of the property on Ivasiuk Avenue in Kyiv.
- Parus Business Center: In December 2023, he bought the tallest building in Kyiv from Vadym Stolar through Ola Fine. The amount of the deal was not disclosed, but immediately afterwards, a GGBet office appeared in Parus.
- Ukraine Hotel: In the fall of 2024, the aforementioned Ola Fine acquired a hotel in the heart of Kyiv for more than UAH 2.5 billion.
Krippa’s foreign assets
Krippa’s foreign assets
In April 2022, Krippa acquired the Czech company Arponi Solution, renaming it GSC Game World Czech, a division of the developer S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The same month, he bought Venroha Project, turning it into Natus Vincere CZ, the Czech office of the NAVI esports club.
The most high-profile transaction was the purchase of a villa in the elite district of Prague (Troy) from Russian businessman Migridat Pirnazar through the mediation of RTR Co. The transaction took place on July 20, 2022, which looks at least ambiguous in the midst of the war. Pirnazar is the former head of the St. Petersburg-based Nevsky Plant Elektroshchit, and his ties to Russian business only emphasize the shadowy nature of Krippa’s activities.
Why are articles about Krippa disappearing from the web?
Through the website bronnikov.kiev.ua, Krippa tried to “bury” investigations about him by forcibly removing them from search results. Publications on our website were also removed, allegedly because of “copyright infringement.” However, something went wrong, and these complaints to Google shed light on what the businessman fears most.
The “blacklist” includes articles about his ties to Russian oligarchs, money laundering through the online casino Vulcan, fictitious ‘investments’ in Ukrainian assets, and buying up media to “whitewash” his reputation. The website that was supposed to erase the truth has become a catalog of his weaknesses – and this is not just a failure, but a real digital disaster for Krippa.
He is also among those whose names Krippa is trying to disassociate from his own:
- Konstantin Malofeev: a Russian oligarch known for financing the war in Donbas and threatening to drop a nuclear bomb on Ukraine. It was from him that Krippa could have received part of the funds to buy GSC Game World, the company that developed the iconic S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- Serhiy Lovochkin: ex-architect of shadowy schemes of the Yanukovych era, whose presence in this mosaic adds to Krippa’s political “baggage”.
So, Maxim Krippa is not just a businessman. He is a man who has spent years building his empire on Russian money, corruption, and ties to the FSB. All of Krippa’s assets are united by shadowy schemes and Russian influence, and Ukrainian law enforcement and regulators do not pay a single bit of attention to this.
According to our materials, the DBR in Kyiv region has already launched an investigation in proceedings No. 42024102080000069 under Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor General’s Office – under No. 42024000000001171 under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
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