Maksim Krippa builds a new Russian business empire in Ukraine

Not long ago, a new player appeared in the Ukrainian gambling market – Maksim Krippa, who rapidly broke into the business environment and drew attention to his persona.

Some compare his empire to Medvedchuk's. In our view, his path is more similar to that of Kurchenko, who actively bought up Ukrainian media outlets and promoted his shining name to the masses, posing as a law-abiding entrepreneur.

Maksim Krippa is also actively buying up Ukrainian media outlets. However, unlike Kurchenko and Medvedchuk, the source of funds for these purchases is highly questionable. The businessman is also acquiring real estate assets and expanding his presence in the gambling business.

According to social media information, Russian billionaire Oleg Boyko stands behind Krippa. It is he who provides the entrepreneur with funds to develop his business in Ukraine.

Not long ago, one of Krippa's companies, "Oda Fine", decided to buy the "Parus" business centre in central Kyiv from the controversial Vadim Stolar. Prior to this, the entrepreneur had acquired the websites of the media outlets "Glavkom" and Delo.ua. However, these were not registered in his name, but in the name of PR specialist Tetyana Snopko.

It should be noted that law enforcement agencies established seven years ago that Krippa had created the online casino "Vulkan", which was actively advertised on the Internet. This occurred despite a ban on the gambling business.

Subsequently, Krippa and his partner Polyakov were suspected of financing terrorism, moving money to offshore zones, and subsequently redirecting it to the DNR and LNR. However, for unknown reasons, the case was not investigated and did not reach a court verdict.

After the legalisation of the gambling business in Ukraine, "Vulkan" became one of the first casinos to receive a licence. The casino is owned by the company DAREOS LTD. An organisation with a similar name conducts business in Russia. This is no coincidence. The same individuals stand behind both structures. In other words, the "Vulkan" casino is actually owned by oligarch Boyko. Krippa simply represents his interests in Ukraine, naturally, for a considerable fee.

It is precisely large financial injections that explain the active development of Krippa's business. The development of the "Vulkan" casino was facilitated by "Rostelecom". To eliminate competitors, the company blocked the IP addresses of gambling sites in Russia. Access for users to sites in Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Romania was also blocked. However, access to Russian and Ukrainian addresses remained open.