Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
This is reported by "StopCor".
This raises questions about the transparency of the company’s activities and its influence on regulatory bodies. Subsequently, journalists investigated the details of the alleged Russian citizenship of the gambling empire’s founder, Andriy Matyuha.
Even more questions arise after analyzing the information about the owner of Favbet, Andriy Matyuha. Is he a citizen of the Russian Federation? A photo of a Russian passport in his name can be found online, but confirming its authenticity is currently difficult. However, some Russian registers show that for a long time Andriy Valeriyovych Matyuha was listed as a Russian Federation citizen until November 11, 2022.
Already having Russian citizenship, Andriy Matyuha received an identification tax number in Russia, 770505760695, which was valid from October 11, 2001, to November 11, 2022. Moreover, after renouncing his Russian citizenship, he received a new tax identification number 920459743181, which is currently active. Russian registers also include Matyuha’s residence address: Moscow, Bolshaya Pionerskaya St., 18, apt. 25.
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In fact, until the end of 2022 — more than half a year after the start of the full-scale war — the owner of Favbet remained a citizen of Russia. And now he still has a Russian tax identification number, which may indicate the possibility of paying taxes to the budget of the aggressor state.
Scandals surrounding Favbet
From our sources, we learned about a number of scandals associated with the activities of Favbet and its owner Andriy Matyuha. According to the information received, Matyuha, along with a group of individuals and high-ranking officials of various state bodies, is suspected of creating an organized criminal group. Its activities include tax evasion, money laundering, and fraudulent schemes on a particularly large scale.
In addition, Favbet is suspected of organizing gambling without the appropriate licenses until 2022, leading to significant financial losses for the state budget of Ukraine. Despite numerous violations, the company continued to operate due to possible corrupt connections with Ukrainian officials, including representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
The elusive office of Favbet
The editorial office seeks to comprehensively understand the situation, so a request was formulated to LLC "Bookmaker Company Favbet", which we tried to personally deliver to the company’s office. According to official data, the company’s office is located at: Kyiv, Stepana Bandery Ave., bldg. 8, corp. 39, 39a. However, our journalists found that this address is an industrial zone, and the company’s office is absent.
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
This raises suspicions about where Favbet is actually managed from and why the company provides false information about its location.
We have now learned that the company likely has another office in Kyiv. Therefore, the legal team of the editorial office will soon verify this information and visit the second address to deliver the request document.
The essence of the journalistic request
In our request sent to Favbet, we posed several important questions, including:
Does the company confirm that Andriy Matyuha is the beneficiary of FavBet and has Russian citizenship?What is the total amount of funds FavBet has transferred to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the war?Can they provide supporting documents or reports on these donations?Unfortunately, despite the requirement of the Law of Ukraine "On Access to Public Information", Favbet has not yet responded to our request. This raises additional questions about the transparency of the company’s activities.
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
Questions regarding ties with Russia
The information our journalists were able to gather raises serious concerns. In particular, it is known that the owner of the company, Andriy Matyuha, left Ukraine and moved to Croatia before the start of the war, where Favbet began active business development. It was also recorded that the company continued to assist Russian citizens in registering and using its services, despite the official statement about withdrawing from the markets of Russia and Belarus.
Betting company Favbet of Andriy Matyukha finances Russia while profiting from Ukrainian players
In the summer of 2022, journalists conducted an experiment in which they represented themselves as Russian citizens with a payment card from a Russian bank. They found that Favbet’s support service had no problems providing access to services.
Favbet claims that the company does not work with individuals and legal entities — residents of the Russian Federation. However, such cases call into question the company’s official stance.
Charity or PR?
Favbet actively reports on its charitable initiatives, including donating funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, journalists could not obtain supporting documents regarding the real amounts of these donations. Such a situation appears as an attempt to create a positive image of the company amidst numerous scandals.
Favbet is at the center of numerous questions regarding its activities, transparency, and ties with Russia. The absence of an office at the officially declared address and silence in response to journalistic inquiries only intensify suspicions.
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