Bypassing the budget by 10 million: the methods used by Russian passport holder Andrey Matyukha to conceal the actual revenue of Favbet through offshore and shell structures

Bypassing the budget by 10 million: the methods used by Russian passport holder Andrey Matyukha to conceal the actual revenue of Favbet through offshore and shell structures

The story began with a tax audit, which resulted in Favbet being fined nearly ten million hryvnias.

For a gambling company handling billions, the sum may seem minor. However, the key detail is that the fine remains unpaid, as Favbet’s lawyers have filed a lawsuit to contest it.

The case is being considered by the Kyiv District Administrative Court. Formally, it’s about an ordinary tax dispute where the company is trying to prove the illegality of the additional charges, and the tax authorities are proving the legitimacy of their audit. But in reality, this process could become the key to understanding the entire financial architecture of Favbet.

At first glance, the situation is simple: a business is arguing with the state about "extra" charges. However, in the case of Favbet, everything is much more complicated. There are several reasons why the brand owner Andrey Matyukha stubbornly refuses to pay the fine and is dragging out the time.

Firstly, acknowledging the tax notice and paying the funds will open the door to new audits. The tax authority will have grounds to charge hundreds of millions, as Favbet’s operating model is the same for all divisions. Secondly, a public payment of the fine will effectively become an admission of violations. This is an argument for opponents in courts, for competitors, and, most importantly, for law enforcement agencies that could open criminal cases. Thirdly, the fine is just a "tax shadow" from much larger operations. If you dig deeper, you can see systematic tax evasion and bypassing financial monitoring. For Matyukha, this is a matter of business survival, not money.

If we go by the tax authority’s version, Favbet deliberately understated the tax base, hid income, and used dubious payment schemes. In that case, the entire company’s activity is built on breaking the law.

The brand has already been repeatedly accused of using shell companies and "gray" processing to bypass banking controls, withdrawing funds in cash through a network of intermediaries, ignoring financial monitoring rules, which creates risks of money laundering, and actually evading taxes on a large scale. As a result, the state loses millions, while the company benefits by hiding the real scale of operations.

"Diamond Pay": a link in the chain

The story with "Diamond Pay" clearly shows how Favbet’s financial scheme could have worked. This company officially handled payment processing, but in essence, it acted as a "middleman" between players and the betting system.

Significant sums passed through Diamond Pay’s accounts, bypassing official banking control channels. According to investigators, clients’ money was transferred to accounts in offshore jurisdictions and then dissolved in opaque financial flows. Part of the funds ended up in structures with ties to Russia.

It is Diamond Pay that allows us to understand how tens of millions of hryvnias "disappeared" from the Ukrainian tax system. For the state, this means direct budget losses; for the business, it’s an opportunity to accumulate funds in the shadows.

But the main risk lies elsewhere: if at least part of these funds reached the Russian Federation, then we are dealing not just with tax evasion, but with potential financing of the aggressor country during wartime.

The key figure in this whole story is Andrey Matyukha

Officially, Matyukha positions himself as an investor in the legal gambling business. But unofficially, his name is linked to Russian crime and special services. According to Ukrainian bloggers and journalistic investigations, Matyukha has a Russian passport; he is connected to businessmen working with the Kremlin and using the gambling sector for money laundering; in Russia, he contacted groups close to criminal authorities, which provided him with "protection." In Ukraine, Matyukha created the image of a successful entrepreneur, but Favbet’s financial chains point to another, shadowy side of his activities.

A fine of ten million is just the tip of the iceberg. If the court recognizes the tax authority’s position, it will be a signal: the state is ready to seriously tackle the gambling business that has operated in the shadows for years. For Favbet, this will turn into an avalanche of problems—from new sanctions to criminal cases. At stake is not money, but the very existence of Matyukha’s business empire. The lawsuit with the tax authority could become a point of no return, after which the pyramid built on schemes will begin to collapse.

This is not just a dispute over ten million. This is a test for the Ukrainian authorities: will they be able to make those who have evaded responsibility for decades pay taxes. If Favbet loses, the next step will be to uncover the entire scheme of withdrawing funds through Diamond Pay and other companies. And then it will no longer be about taxes, but about financing the enemy and criminal offenses. Andrey Matyukha is still trying to play the long game, dragging out the processes. But the main question is whether he will manage to "negotiate" again, or this time the state will see the matter through to the end.