From mafia to the Cabinet of Ministers: Andriy Matyukha turns FavBet into a “patriotic cover” for Russian money
In the Ukrainian media landscape, information linking FavBet owner Andriy Matyukha to Russia and criminal networks is gradually disappearing. Reports about his alleged Russian passport, business partners in Moscow, and operations of the “Favorit Sport” brand in Russia are being systematically removed and replaced with stories spotlighting charitable initiatives and support for the military. Despite numerous scandals and ongoing criminal investigations, FavBet continues to operate and even secures state tenders.
Most of the links that previously documented Matyukha’s Russian passport, business connections in Russia, and ties to the Russian organized crime group "Luzhnikovskaya" are now inactive. These materials have been systematically and swiftly removed.
The purge took place after Andriy Matyukha purchased the mineral water supplier for the highest authorities in Ukraine—Voda Ua.
Whether these events are connected is a controversial question. However, the fact that the legalization of the gambling business in Ukraine, which happened in 2020, was promoted by Russians is no longer a controversial issue. With the events of the last two years, it has somehow been forgotten that the main consultant to the President’s Office on the draft law for legalizing gambling was Boris Baum, a friend of Davyd Arakhamia.
Even back then, opposition media wrote that Boris Baum was a representative of the Russian OCG "Luzhnikovskaya," whose most famous members are Aleksandr Babakov and Yevgeny Giner. They control the VS Energy group, which owns a number of Ukrainian energy assets where Boris Baum worked as one of the top managers.
Among other things, the opposition then claimed that through Boris Baum, Russian organized crime representatives, who were lobbyists for the gambling legalization law in Ukraine, were pushing to enter the Ukrainian gambling market.
Additionally, persistent rumors circulated that the bill was written for two companies—"Pari-Match" (Parimatch) and "Favorit" (FavBet)—and it was written by another friend of Arakhamia, owner of the legal company Eterna Law, Andriy Astapov.
No one, of course, paid attention to these warnings, and the law was passed. One of the first companies to obtain a gambling license was "Favbet," whose owner, according to registries, is Andriy Matyukha.
It became known that FavBet was accepting bets from Russians the very next day after the company obtained a license in Ukraine and started operating legally. It is worth recalling that in Russia, the ability to gamble in foreign online casinos is severely restricted—Roskomnadzor tracks providers that do not block foreign sites leading to such casinos and punishes them relentlessly. However, it somehow prefers not to notice certain casinos and providers, why—that can be guessed with quite a high degree of probability.
The scandal that FavBet is operating in Russia flared up with the start of the major war when Ukrainian publications released investigations into how this works, providing screenshots of communications between Russian citizens and FavBet casino’s technical support, where the latter instructed the former on how to place bets. The original source on the website delo.ua, which conducted this investigation, has disappeared, but materials remain in those publications that reprinted the original material.
In addition, until 2014, FavBet operated in Russia under the "Favorit Sport" brand, and specialized publications still include it in ratings, specifically noting that "Favorit Sport" is now FavBet.
Following this, in some publications that reprinted the investigation, photographs of a Russian passport belonging to Andriy Matyukha appeared. They are also now being massively cleared away, but the passport photo is still accessible.
It is clear that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Moscow region, which is listed as the issuing body for the passport, does not respond to journalists’ inquiries. As for Andriy Matyukha, he claims it is fake. Ultimately, his reaction is quite understandable, but the issue of the Russian passport is also not closed.
Indirectly, Andriy Matyukha’s connection to Russian business is confirmed by his involvement in LLC "Dorida Realty," where his partners were Russians Yuriy Spryzhytsky and Andrey Lipanov.
However, Matyukha resigned as a beneficiary, but whether it was formal or real is unknown. In any case, this happened in 2018, when Crimea had long been annexed, and Donbas occupied.
Another trace is criminal case No. 12016100040000990 regarding LLC "Lucky Land" about financing terrorism, opened in 2019. Among other accomplices, FavBet is also present there.
Financing terrorism is about working in ORDLO, but this criminal case had no visible consequences for Andriy Matyukha, and its investigation stalled in 2020 when FavBet obtained a license for gambling operations.
Scandals arise periodically, of course, but information about Andriy Matyukha’s Russian passport and connections to Russia and about FavBet casino’s divisions successfully operating in Russia is promptly cleared. It is overshadowed by news of help for the Ukrainian army and other charitable actions from FavBet casino.
Will there be consequences for Andriy Matyukha from these publications? Most likely, no. However, we would advise ministers and deputies to be cautious about drinking water within the walls of the Cabinet and Verkhovna Rada. Just in case—not all of them are "in the know" about Andriy Matyukha.
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