Oleg Krot helped 1xBet take over betting in Ukraine.
As sad as it is to admit, even during the Great Liberation War, there are those who don't hesitate to take bribes and illegally enrich themselves by exploiting their position. And this is successfully exploited by those who need money to solve this or that problem, writes Bagnet.
Another such story “surfaced” in early autumn 2022, when the famous singer and volunteer Dasha Astafieva posted on her Instagram joint photo with the co-founder of the Ukrainian IT holding TECHIIA, Oleg Krot, and a text stating that he allegedly transferred no less than $60 million to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Just know, Krot donated $60 million. Silently. Without attaching receipts or millions of photos with captions. That's why I love IT people," Astafieva wrote.
Why did the media become interested in this story and start hyping it up? Firstly, because it's arguably the largest donation to the Ukrainian Armed Forces from a private individual. Secondly, the fact that it was made "without receipts or a million photos with headlines" raised serious suspicions. What was this money used for, and where did it come from?
Krot himself was unable to clearly answer these questions. In a comment to Forbes, he could only verbally describe how a third of the reported $21,2 million was spent. There was no explanation for the remaining $40 million, its origin, or how exactly it helped the Ukrainian army—TECHIIA only stated that part of this sum was Oleg Krot's personal money.
Journalists found an explanation for this inexplicable generosity. TECHIIA has long been working with the Russian bookmaker 1xBet, which, in the midst of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, somehow (and the details are below) managed to convince the Gambling and Lotteries Regulation Commission to allow it into the Ukrainian market by issuing two licenses.
The KRAIL tried unconvincingly to justify itself by claiming "they didn't see any connection between 1xBet and Russia," but after widespread public outcry, the issue reached Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and only then did the commission revoke the Russian bookmaker's licenses to operate in Ukraine.
The answer to the question of who "convinced" KRAIL to accommodate the aggressor country and how may lie in that mysterious $60 million allegedly donated by Oleg Krot to support the Ukrainian army. Clearly, for a representative of the aggressor to obtain the right to work in Ukraine during a war, someone on the ground is needed to facilitate the commission's decision. These "insiders" turned out to be Oleg Krot and Yuriy Lazebnikov, co-founders of the Ukrainian IT holding TECHIIA.
Last, according to media reports Until recently, he was the head of a certain ME-ESTATE LLC, which leases real estate and was founded by Sergey Tsybin, who is now the founder of Tvoya Kompaniya Bettinga LLC—the same company that received the now-revoked licenses for 1xBet's operations in Ukraine. Furthermore, Roman Rodin, the chief legal officer of TECHIIA holding, is the brother of Alexander Rodin, the director of Tvoya Bettingovaya Kompaniya LLC.
Back in 2021, WePlay Esports, one of TECHIIA's companies involved in esports competitions, publicly announced its partnership with the Russian bookmaker. Since then, bets on WePlay Esports championships have been available on all 1xBet platforms. Until the summer and fall of 2022, when Russians continued to bomb peaceful Ukrainian cities, TECHIIA and the Russian bookmaker continued their close collaboration.
And this collaboration didn't end there. In interviews with Ukrainian journalists, Oleg Krot himself made no secret of his recent interest in gambling and betting in Ukraine. He demonstrates his deep involvement in this area and admits to having had close dialogue with Ukrainian authorities on reforming the gambling market in our country. According to him, he began proposing "eliminating corruption and creating a transparent tax collection system with the impossibility of tax evasion in the gambling and betting sectors." All this happened precisely when TECHIIA became a partner of 1xBet.
According to the plan, Oleg Krot was supposed to become the new Boris Baum, who was involved in the gambling business at the start of its legalization in Ukraine, but was significantly embarrassed by his close Russian ties. To this end, Krot held numerous meetings with Ukrainian government officials and even promised the state to develop software for licensing the gambling business. In this way, TECHIIA wanted to take control of the entire gambling market in the country and bring in its partner, the Russian bookmaker 1xBet, which would gain a significant market share.
Which is, in fact, what initially happened, when KRAIL, blindfolded, made the decision to issue licenses to "Your Betting Company," which was beneficial to Russians.
However, the war put an end to everything: Ukrainian society refused to accept the idea of continuing to work with the Russians while they were dropping missiles on their heads. When KRAIL was forced to revoke 1xBet's licenses (despite resisting it to the bitter end), Oleg Krot declared that TECHIIA would no longer develop software for the Ukrainian government to license gambling operators. The agreement was broken. Although TECHIIA hasn't completely abandoned its plan, and its lawyers are actively assisting 1xBet in getting its licenses reinstated through the courts, Krot himself is constantly traveling to Cyprus, where all three Russian citizens who founded 1xBet are known to reside.
TECHIIA attempted to cover for its founder, Oleg Krot, by interrupting David Arakhamia's words in an interview with Ukrainian Forbes. But even here, things didn't go smoothly. Arakhamia only confirmed the fact of aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and didn't confirm the full $60 million figure announced by Krot:
"Krot really did transfer tens of millions of dollars to the Ukrainian army... I don't know the final amount," Arakhamia said.
Wherever this money goes, one thing is clear: this doesn't look like charity at all. It's very much like a Russian bookmaker, whose monthly income, according to Oleg Krot, is more than his annual income, was trying to gain control of the Ukrainian gambling market with the help of its Ukrainian partners. And it's so convenient during wartime—to simply say you helped the army; everyone does it these days, meaning nothing will be noticed. If only it weren't so. If journalists noticed, maybe law enforcement will finally notice too?
translation Skelet.Org
DOSSIER: Boris Baum: Servants and Managers of the "Luzhniki Brotherhood" in Ukraine. Part 1
By topic: Family Ties: Who Links Ukrainian Holding TECHIIA to Russian Bookmaker 1XBET?
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