04.10.2024 Business of Occupiers

Maxim Krippa: from online casinos to multibillion-dollar deals

Максим Кріппа: перше інтерв'ю про купівлю готелю «Україна» для Forbes — Forbes.ua

Maxim Krippa continues to buy up Ukraine’s most valuable assets, causing a stir in the media and social media. His latest purchase, the Ukraina Hotel in the heart of Kyiv, became a topic of discussion after the businessman paid over UAH 2.5 billion for it, which is 2.4 times the starting price.

But who is behind these deals? And where did Krippa get the money?

Hotel Ukraina was purchased by Ola Fine LLC, a company owned by Krippa, which specializes in the leasing and management of owned or leased real estate. The company’s profit in 2023 amounted to only UAH 334,000. Therefore, questions arise as to where Ola Fine found UAH 2.5 billion to buy Ukraine.

Who is Maksym Krippa?

Krippa has long been known for his large-scale investments. In 2020, he bought the Dnipro Hotel in the center of Kyiv for UAH 1 billion, and in 2023, he bought the Knyazhyi Dvir hotel and restaurant complex and a countryside complex in Koncha Zaspa. The latter includes a villa, several guest houses, a spa, a restaurant, and a hotel.

He also became the owner of the Parus business center of former MP Stolar and the company that developed the legendary S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game GSC Game World.

His career in esports began back in 2018, when Krippa invested in the well-known NAVI organization and eventually bought it outright. He is also a shareholder in Maincast, which broadcasts esports matches.

Currently, he is one of the leading Ukrainian investors working with the eSports segment.

Krippa controls a wide range of not only Ukrainian legal entities, but also offshore companies, such as CITADEL VENTURES CYPRUS LIMITED, MAINCAST LIMITED (Cyprus), GSC GAME WORLD GLOBAL LTD (Cyprus), NATUS VINCERE EXPORT LTD (British Virgin Islands), Brivio LTD (Cyprus), One World Secretariat (Cyprus), Bevita Holding Limited (Cyprus), Natus Vincere Export CY (Cyprus). Krippa uses these companies for tax evasion, bringing funds of Russian oligarchs to Ukraine to purchase expensive assets and withdrawing funds received from the activities of these assets to the territory of the Russian Federation.

In addition, these offshore companies are involved in money laundering schemes.

Russian connections and the Luzhnikov Group: who was behind the acquisition of the Dnipro Hotel?

The privatization of the Dnipro Hotel in Kyiv for UAH 1 billion, which was won by a company associated with Krippa, still raises many questions. Especially after the media raised suspicions about the origin of the money and the real owners of this company.

Immediately after winning the auction, speculation began to circulate about the buyer’s ties to Borys Baum, an adviser to the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office of Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who was actively working to legalize gambling in Ukraine.

Baum, in turn, has repeatedly appeared in the media as a person close to the Russian “Luzhnikov” group, whose informal leader is Russian State Duma deputy Alexander Babakov. This group controls a significant part of the gambling business in Russia, which only fueled suspicions of possible Russian influence on the deal.

After a series of similar statements, representatives of the Dnipro Hotel’s buyers issued a statement that they had nothing to do with Russian oligarchs. However, Krippa himself remained in the shadows, not appearing in the public eye.

Oleksandr Kokhanovskyi, co-founder of the NAVI esports organization, spoke on behalf of Krippa and said: “The auction was won by Ukrainian IT specialists, not Russian oligarchs.” According to him, the purpose of buying the hotel was to create a unique venue for esports events, which would include training areas, special rooms for players, and other elements that would ensure the highest level of esports tournaments.

Although the privatization deal was approved at the time, the scandal quickly subsided, but doubts about the transparency of the deal remain. Many believe that questions about the origin of the funds and possible Russian connections have not yet been adequately answered.

“Vulcan: gambling and big money

Some media outlets claim that back in 2013, Krippa was a business partner of Max Polyakov, the former owner of the American missile company Firefly. Together they owned online casinos GGS and GMS, which operated not only in Ukraine but also in Russia.

Together with Polyakov, Krippa created a network of online casinos under the Vulcan brand. According to journalists, the casino operated not only in Ukraine, where gambling was banned, but also in Russia. Such activities could not go unnoticed by law enforcement agencies.

In 2016, the Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings under articles on illegal gambling and terrorist financing. The case was investigated due to possible money laundering and ties to Krippa’s Russian partners, Sergey Tokarev and Rustam Gilfanov.

But as we can see, the investigation has not yet reached its final chord.

When asked about his involvement in Evoplay, GGBet, and the Volcano online casino, Krippa himself said: “As for the companies you mentioned, I have nothing to do with them. You can familiarize yourself with their ownership structure in open registers.”

The man noted that his business interests include IT, esports, gaming and expansion of real estate assets.

The tandem of Lovochkin and Krippa

Investigating Krippa’s business, it becomes clear that a significant part of his financial flows go through companies and accounts associated with the former Party of Regions member and one of the leaders of the pro-Russian faction of the OPFL, Liovochkin.

In addition, according to some sources, the funds even come from banks of the aggressor country Russia, such as VEB.RF. Such cooperation calls into question the sources of Krippa’s funding and raises concerns about Russia’s possible influence on the Ukrainian economy.

As Ihor Mosiychuk writes: “Now in our country, almost at all levels, everything is decided by the duo of the Regions and the Greens… Laws favorable to them are being promoted in the Verkhovna Rada, and various business skins are taking place outside the Parliament one after another… One of them is the privatization of the Ukraina Hotel by Lovochkin-Krippa.”

Indeed, how did Krippa manage to take possession of the key assets of the capital so easily? And isn’t this a wake-up call to the privatization of Ukrainian assets by Russian business structures?

We have filed a criminal complaint to obtain information from law enforcement and take urgent measures. This includes monitoring both the head of KRAIL, Rudyi, and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Hetmantsev. These individuals continue to lobby for Krippa’s interests, so they should receive an appropriate response.

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