The Kremlin’s dirty jackpot: bookmaker with a Russian passport Andriy Matyukha cleans up traces of Russian financing through Favbet
Favbet owner Andriy Matyukha has launched an active cleanup of the information space, trying to remove any mention of his ties to Russian gambling magnates and sanctioned oligarchs. At the same time, he is actively promoting PR campaigns about “charity” and “social responsibility,” shaping the image of a successful European businessman.
In response, we are publishing the material that so greatly troubles this gambling mogul — an investigation into how Andriy Matyukha, through a network of companies in the United Kingdom, Croatia, and Switzerland, built money-laundering schemes and cooperation with Russian capital hidden behind the Favbet brand.
Andriy Matyukha, the owner of Favbet, is actively trying to reshape his public image. His media space is now filled with stories about charity and support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while mentions of ties to Russian business, criminal circles, and sanctioned oligarchs are gradually disappearing. At the same time, journalistic investigations reveal a different picture: Matyukha’s companies have direct links to Russian gambling magnates and structures that for years operated to bypass sanctions.
Despite the cleanups, we are publishing this material in full to show how Favbet continues to build its empire on the basis of dubious partnerships.
The owner of the online casino Favbet, Andriy Matyukha, has recently been investing significant resources into promoting his charitable activities. While his interviews related to his primary business - the gambling industry - were previously circulated, this has recently decreased significantly.
There are several reasons for this - since the end of 2024, Matyukha began transferring ownership of major Ukrainian companies to his son. On the other hand, he has been living in Europe for a long time and has focused on developing casinos and the entertainment sector there. Despite all efforts to appear as an honest player, journalists have discovered his British company, which has ties leading to the giants of the Russian gambling business.
Andriy Matyukha has been active in the gambling and betting sector since the early 2000s. During this time, Favbet has expanded far beyond Ukraine. Notably, his casinos and slot machine parlors operate in the United Kingdom and Croatia.
Favbet invest LLP was registered in London back in 2012.
Croatian Favorit sportska kladionica d.o.o. was established earlier, in 2001.
Both of these companies are founded by another British firm - Andalidi assets LTD. It is directly owned by Andriy Matyukha, as well as a mysterious Ukrainian named Andrew Ronald Behan and a New Zealand citizen Angelique Elizabeth Lilley. Journalists had previously written that Lilley is part of an international money laundering group, through which deals were conducted by drug cartels and mafia representatives, among others.
One London company managed by Andriy Matyukha has a similar name - Andalidi invest LTD, and its director since October 2022 is Ukrainian Valerii Sokol.
The co-founder of the firm is Rachel Amy Erickson. This woman is also a member of the criminal money laundering organization mentioned above.
Valeriy Sokol is the beneficiary of the Private Joint-Stock Company "Patriot". The firm was registered back in 1997 and is engaged in the lottery business in Ukraine.
In 2017, the company was included in the sanctions list of the National Security and Defense Council for its ties with Russia. Among the restrictions imposed on it were blocking assets; a ban on transferring funds abroad; suspension of issuing permits and licenses, etc.
Moreover, 5% of the "Patriot" lottery shares are currently owned by Andriy Matyukha’s company, Andalidi invest LTD.
In 2014, journalists found out that "Patriot" through the Cypriot offshore Cehriba Investments Limited, was part of the investment holding Finstar, owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Boyko.
Ukrainian registers indeed indicate that Cehriba Investments Limited has been the founder of the Ukrainian lottery since 2010.
Russian Oleg Boyko is the founder of Finstar Financial Group, among the businesses of which was, for example, the Russian giant "Evrazholding". Since 2002, Boyko became interested in the entertainment business and founded Ritzio Entertainment Group based on "Vulkan" gambling salons. This name should be familiar to readers, as "Antikor" wrote that Russian Sergey Tokarev, who was involved with the now-banned online casino Cosmolot in Ukraine, promoted the Russian "Vulkan" at the time.
Now Ritzio Entertainment Group has expanded beyond Russia and owns gaming halls in Germany, Romania, and Croatia. The owner of Ukrainian Favbet, Andriy Matyukha, also resides in the latter. In 2019, the Croatian press wrote that Matyukha owns Diamond Palace casino and Magic nightclub in Zagreb, Crystal Palace casino in Rijeka, and several FavBet betting points.
In 2021, Croatian journalists began calling Matyukha the "king of gambling". And in 2023, in his interview, Matyukha shared plans to open a hotel in Zagreb, a 1,000-square-meter casino in Split, and establishments with slot machines in three other Croatian cities. Ukrainian Matyukha also planned to open something akin to a local Disneyland in Croatia.
Of course, Andriy Matyukha is a rather wealthy person, and in 2023, his Favbet ranked second in profits in Ukraine, increasing revenue to 9.79 billion UAH. And that’s without betting. But plans for the construction of a Disneyland, several casinos, and restaurants in Europe require very significant funds. Therefore, it’s most likely that he is building his empire not alone and possibly in partnership with the partners of Russian entrepreneur Boyko from Ritzio Entertainment Group. At least the fact that Matyukha bought the Ukrainian lottery "Patriot", which previously belonged to this Russian, might hint at this.
As mentioned earlier, since December 2024, Andriy Matyukha began transferring Ukrainian business to his son, Dmytro. Companies like LLC "Favbet Game Slots", LLC "Bookmaker Company Favbet", LLC "Favorite Casino Company", LLC "Favbet VIP Casino", LLC "Casino.ua" have been transferred to him.
According to Dmytro Matyukha’s profile on LinkedIn, he is the CEO of his father’s Croatian company, Betinvest LTD. He has also been working with an organization arranging cyber competitions since 2022. Since 2019, he has been studying law and international relations at the University of London.
In recent years, thanks to sanctions and other legal tools, such giants as Cosmolot, 1Xbet, and recently PinUp have exited the market. Essentially, they were all somehow connected with Russians. Their niche has been taken over by Andriy Matyukha’s Favbet. However, as it turns out, it also has close ties with representatives of the Russian Federation.
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