VBet at the centre of scandals: links to Artur Grants and the Russian market

VBet, the main sponsor of the Ukraine national football team, has found itself at the centre of numerous journalistic investigations. The media link VBet to entrepreneur Artur Grants and the Russian market.

Owners and structural changes

"VBET Ukraine" was founded in 2020 by brothers Vage and Vigen Badalyan. They controlled the business through the company "Essie IP Limited", registered in the Channel Islands. Later, the company came under the management of "Soft Contract Limited", and in 2022 it was re-registered as "UCR Holding LTD" with a new owner, Rudolf Poghosyan, also a citizen of Armenia.

Suspicions of links with Russia

Journalists from the publication "UNIAN" stated that companies associated with the Badalyan brothers had cooperated with the Russian bookmaker "Fonbet". In 2015, after the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Vage Badalyan awarded the top bookmakers in the Russian Federation at the Betting Awards ceremony in Moscow.

Denial of accusations

The CEO of "VBET Ukraine", Alexander Blokhin, denies any links with Russia and claims that the Badalyan brothers no longer have any connection to the business. The company also stated that Artur Grants does not exert any influence on VBet's operations.

Links with Forbes

It is noteworthy that Blokhin previously served as the director of "Forbes Ukraine", which is owned by Artur Grants, while the previous director of "VBET Ukraine", Giorgi Givishvili, also headed "Forbes Ukraine" in 2020. VBet even became a partner of the Forbes "Entrepreneur of the Year" award.