Russian operative Andrey Matyukha: how the owner of FavBet is sanitizing his history

Russian operative Andrey Matyukha: how the owner of FavBet is sanitizing his history

The owner of Favbet, Andrey Matyukha, is actively reshaping his public persona.

References to his Russian passport and alleged criminal and security service connections are being removed from search results, substituted with a streamlined image of a “thriving business figure.”

Investigation shows what Matyukha is trying to hide and how this "informational whitening" technology works.

Internet Cleanup

In recent months, Google’s search results have noticeably changed. Materials mentioning Favbet owner Andrey Matyukha’s ties with Russian special services and crime have started to disappear. Complaints regarding copyright infringement on articles about his activities are recorded in the Lumen Database. Example - notice № 55639277: "Yegor Frolov" demands the removal of a publication detailing the schemes and connections of Andrey Matyukha.

Читайте по теме:Favbet и Андрей Матюха: как владелец двух паспортов и бизнеса в РФ скрывает правду за изменениями в своей биографии и зарабатывает на войне, предоставляя услуги российскому рынку

Lawyers familiar with such schemes explain: this is an old technology for reputation cleansing. Initially, compromising material is published on front websites backdated. Then a DMCA complaint is filed on behalf of the "copyright holder": the text was allegedly stolen. Google responds automatically, without delving into the issue, and removes the links from search results.

As a result, users see a "clean field" — as if no scandals ever happened because the search engine automatically removes links from the results, making the information disappear for regular users.

Whole agencies for reputation management work like this. But in Matyukha’s case, the question is different: what exactly is he trying to hide? In the reputation business, such technologies are called "information vacuum cleaners." But when a person with a Russian passport and crime connections resorts to them, it becomes a matter of national security.

What is Matyukha cleaning?

Officially, Andrey Matyukha is a Ukrainian businessman who successfully developed the Favbet betting network and obtained a license to operate after the legalization of gambling in 2020. However, in the spring of 2022, journalists published photos of his Russian passport. The document was issued in the Moscow region, at the height of the full-scale war.

Initially, the owner of Favbet denied having dual citizenship. But the traces proved too obvious: both copies of documents and migration service data. Efforts were made to downplay the situation, and publications were deleted. However, the very fact of the existence of a passport issued by an aggressor country is unlikely to be erased from the biography. But that is not all.

Favbet officially announced the cessation of operations in Russia and Belarus. However, journalistic investigations showed that Russians were still able to open accounts and place bets. It was enough to declare that you are "not a citizen of the Russian Federation" and replenish the balance via a foreign card.

This explains why "Favorit Sport" and other brands related to Matyukha still appear on the list of resources popular with Russian players. The war did not close this market for him — it only changed the rules of the game.

The shadow of "Luzhniki gang" and a dissolved criminal case

Schemes in the gambling business rarely come without crime. In the case of Favbet, the thread leads to the Moscow OCG "Luzhniki." It was through their representative, Boris Baum, that the law on casino legalization was pushed through in Ukrainian politics. Baum, acting as a "gray cardinal," lobbied the interests of Favbet and Pari-Match, and then Matyukha’s company was among the first to receive a license.

Journalists noted: Baum did not hide his acquaintances in Moscow and connections with people close to the special services. In this configuration, Favbet appeared not just as a business but as a project where the Ukrainian market was legalizing capital of dubious origin. Unfortunately, one of the main developers of the law on gambling market legalization in Ukraine was the head of the presidential faction, David Arakhamia. Boris Baum was his chief consultant on this issue.

In this context, it is worth recalling a nearly decade-old criminal case: in 2016, criminal proceedings were opened in Ukraine № 12016100040000990. It involved LLC "Lucky Land," related to Favbet, and concerned financing of terrorism and working in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Active investigation in the case ceased in 2019, and soon Matyukha’s company received a state license. After that, the investigation lost interest in financing Russian terrorists.

For observers, it became a signal: Matyukha has patrons willing to overlook inconvenient episodes if it involves billion-dollar turnovers. This was soon confirmed most brazenly.

Armor from war and contracts with the state

The paradox is that during the war, Favbet not only maintained its business but also expanded beyond the gambling market: Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports signed a contract with it for advertising, and the Verkhovna Rada and Cabinet received water from Matyukha’s company.

Journalists of "Slidstvo.Info" found out: Favbet employees received "economic armor," meaning exemption from mobilization. While thousands of Ukrainians were dying on the front lines, casino employees could calmly continue serving players, including Russians.

There were also rumors about buses that transported people abroad who were exempted from the army through casino collaboration. Officially, this scheme is not confirmed, but it was mentioned in several investigations.

Another way to protect assets is to transfer them to relatives. Part of the business is registered to his wife, Victoria Skrynchenko: restaurants, a supermarket, a clinic. In December 2024, Andrey Matyukha’s son, Dmitry, became the beneficiary of Favbet.

Formally, this appears as a "youth renewal." In fact, it’s an escape from responsibility. In case of claims from authorities or journalists, Andrey Matyukha can declare: the business is no longer his.

Instead of an Epilogue

If you gather all the threads together, it becomes clear what exactly is disappearing from the internet due to "copyright infringement" complaints. Stories about Andrey Matyukha’s Russian passport, mentions of his ties to criminal groups and special services, and materials about the criminal case on terrorism financing are being erased.

Facts about Favbet continuing to operate in the Russian market, the company using state contracts and "armor" mechanism for its employees, and information about transferring assets to family members are disappearing. All of this is the foundation on which the Favbet empire stands, and it is precisely what they are trying to hide behind the facade of loyalty and charitable actions.

Today in Google, you are more likely to see a "clean" biography of Andrey Matyukha: a successful entrepreneur, a sponsor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, social projects, care for sports. But if you open archives, delve into databases, and recall investigations of recent years, the picture changes.

In front of us is a person who not only built a business at the intersection of legal and criminal but also obtained a passport from the aggressor country, continuing to work in its interests.

Cleanup technologies can remove links from search results, but they cannot erase the history itself. The more Matyukha hides his past, the sharper the question arises: for whom and for what purpose does his gambling empire operate in Ukraine?