Fake licenses and corruption: how Andrey Matyukha’s Favbet profits on Ukraine’s gambling market

Fake licenses and corruption: how Andrey Matyukha’s Favbet profits on Ukraine’s gambling market

Significant changes are taking place in the Ukrainian gambling market. While several companies have lost their licenses over alleged ties to Russia or other violations, Favbet has not only maintained its position but also reinforced it.

This raises questions about the transparency of the company’s operations and its influence on regulatory bodies. In this regard, the StopCor team examined the details of the possible Russian citizenship of the founder of the gambling empire Andrey Matyukha.

Even more questions arise after analyzing information about the owner of Favbet, Andrey Matyukha. Is he a citizen of Russia? Photos of a Russian passport in his name can be found online, but confirming its authenticity is still difficult. However, some Russian registries show that for a long time, Matyukha Andrey Valeryevich was listed in them as a citizen of the Russian Federation until November 11, 2022.

Already holding Russian citizenship, Andrey Matyukha received a tax identification number in Russia 770505760695, which was valid from October 11, 2001, to November 11, 2022. Moreover, after renouncing Russian citizenship, he received a new TIN 920459743181, which is currently active. Russian registries also contain Matyukha’s residential address: Moscow, Bolshaya Pionerskaya St., 18, apt. 25.

In fact, until the end of 2022 – more than six months after the start of the full-scale war – the owner of Favbet remained a citizen of Russia. And now he still has a Russian TIN, which may indicate the possibility of paying taxes to the budget of the aggressor state.

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Scandals around Favbet

From our own sources, we learned about a number of scandals related to the activities of Favbet and its owner Andrey Matyukha. According to the information received, Matyukha, together with a group of individuals and high-ranking officials from various state bodies, is suspected of creating an organized criminal group. Its activities include tax evasion, money laundering, and fraudulent schemes on an especially large scale.

In addition, Favbet is suspected of organizing gambling without the appropriate licenses until 2022, which led to significant financial damage to the state budget of Ukraine. Despite numerous violations, the company continued to operate thanks to possible corrupt connections with Ukrainian officials, including representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Ghost office of Favbet

The "StopCor" editorial team strives to thoroughly investigate the situation, so a request was formulated to LLC "Bookmaker Company ’Favbet’", which we tried to deliver personally to the company’s office. According to official data, the company’s office is located at: Kyiv, Stepan Bandera Ave., 8, building 39, 39a. However, our journalists discovered that this address is an industrial zone, and the company’s office is absent.

This raises suspicions about where Favbet’s management is carried out and why the company provides inaccurate information about its location.

At the moment, we have learned that the company likely has another office in Kyiv. 

Question about ties with Russia

The information gathered by our journalists raises serious concerns. In particular, it is known that the company’s owner Andrey Matyukha left Ukraine even before the war started and moved to Croatia, where Favbet began actively developing its business. It was also recorded that the company continued to help Russian citizens register and use its services, even despite the official statement about exiting the markets of Russia and Belarus.

In the summer of 2022, journalists conducted an experiment in which they posed as a Russian citizen with a payment card from a Russian bank. They found that Favbet’s support service had no problems providing access to the services.

Favbet claims that the company does not work with individuals and legal entities – residents of Russia. However, such cases cast doubt on the company’s official position.

Charity or PR?

Favbet actively reports on its charitable initiatives, in particular, on transferring funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, journalists were unable to obtain confirming documents about the actual volumes of these donations. Such a situation looks like an attempt to create a positive image for the company amid numerous scandals.

Favbet is at the center of numerous questions about 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 exacerbate the suspicions.