The VISA payment system, like all self-respecting systems, isn't a fan of MCC 7995. As soon as a bank processes a payment using this acquiring method, it's immediately flagged as high-risk. What is MCC 7995? It's the code used by online casinos to accept payments.
A few "pocket banks" work with it, usually closely connected to the casinos themselves. For the Ukrainian gambling giant, Andriy Matyukha's Favbet, this includes Europrombank. Andriy Matyukha is in trouble: VISA has taken up arms against transfers to Favbet's endless piggy bank, writes fttc.
Why won't VISA accept payments at Andrey Matyukha's casino? Is the Russian passport the only thing to blame for the ban on accepting payments?
Information that Andrey Matyukha holds a Russian passport is widely circulated online. Photos of the passport, possibly obtained by Matyukha several years ago, are posted. It is an indisputable and easily verifiable fact that Andrey Matyukha's online casino network operates in Russia under various names and trademarks. Andrey Matyukha has registered and maintains at least twenty trademarks in Russia and Belarus and conducts business there. Matyukha cannot afford to abandon the financial flow from Russia: the market is too large, and even a small share of it provides him with significant income.
Payments to Favbet are not processed via VISA. Sadly.
Payments aren't going through via VISA, get your Mastercard!
The ideal way to kill your credit history is to make a gambling payment.
Furthermore, Favbet's position as the leading gambling establishment in Ukraine and several other Eastern European countries—and, thanks to the efforts of Andriy Matyukha's lobbyists, a near-monopoly—leads to a flurry of payments under MCC code 7995 ("online casino and betting") being directed at Favbet. VISA, unwilling to bear the reputation of a dubious operator, is taking specific measures against the monopoly.
What are the consequences of Andrey Matyukha's VISA problems?
VISA is the most powerful company in the world. If a company has problems acquiring with them, it's not sanctions. It's worse! It's a sign that the company is dishonest, evading taxes, and using every conceivable black and white scheme in its operations. This basically matches the definition of Andriy Matyukha's activities in Ukraine. The aura of an honest, domestic genius that Favbet promotes in the press has completely faded.
MasterCard will soon join the sanctions against Favbet, as the shutdown of Visa immediately shifted the bulk of payments to its twin competitor. Sanctions from VISA and MasterCard payment systems typically occur within a few days of each other, as practice shows.
How did Andrey Matyukha end up like this?
A critical analysis of the situation surrounding the bookmaker Favbet reveals systemic problems that extend far beyond temporary technical glitches. Initially reported as problems with Visa payment processing, the incident quickly escalated into a serious crisis involving national security and compliance. As of late October, the company was forced to urgently transfer all acquiring services through Europrombank, while other Ukrainian banks effectively suspended cooperation.
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The situation with Andrey Matyukha's Favbet didn't arise out of nowhere—massive user complaints about blocked transactions preceded the company's official statement. Favbet attempted to conceal the true extent of the problem.
A telling statement was made by Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Financial Policy. He directly stated in his Telegram channel on October 30 that one major state-owned bank had blocked payments to complicate the laundering of funds from Favbet, which he described as a major tax evader. The parliamentarian expressed confidence that other banks still providing services to Favbet would also address similar issues and promised to closely monitor the situation with law enforcement to prevent a "settlement," as often happens. He emphasized that the priority is to declare the fraudster's billions in tax payments.
Connections to Russia: What makes Andrey Matyukha better than Parimatch?
Matyukha Andrey Russian passport
A key aspect of the scandal was the identity of the company's owner, Andrey Matyukha. Publicly available Russian registries contain information that Andrey Valerievich Matyukha was listed as a citizen of the Russian Federation until November 11, 2022, more than eight months after the start of the full-scale invasion. He also held a Russian taxpayer identification number (INN 770505760695), valid since October 11, 2001. After that date, a new INN (INN) 920459743181 was added to the databases, which remains valid. Furthermore, the Moscow registration address at 18 Bolshaya Pionerskaya Street, Apt. 25, remains in the registries. This information casts doubt on claims of a final severance of Russian citizenship and raises reasonable suspicions about possible continued financial obligations to the budget of the aggressor state.
There is a precedent with Parimatch, which was previously sanctioned for its ownership structure being occupied by legal entities established by Russian citizens. The situation with Favbet is significantly more pressing, as the owner of the group of companies personally and for a long time held Russian citizenship. Despite the explicit ban under Ukrainian law on gambling companies wholly or partially owned by Russian citizens, Favbet not only operated unimpeded in the market but also received lucrative government contracts.
Of particular concern are the systematic attempts to conceal compromising information. According to British media and Ukrainian bloggers, including Alexey Golobutsky and military officer Kirill Sazonov, following publications about Matyukha's Russian passport, lack of a license, tax evasion, and work in the Russian market, a mass deletion of these materials from the Ukrainian media began, with some success. Moreover, according to journalists, earlier this year Andriy Matyukha acquired the Voda UA trademark, which soon became a water supplier to the Verkhovna Rada and the Ukrainian government, demonstrating the resilience of his business interests despite the scandals.
How did Andrey Matyukha get rich from casinos in Ukraine while they were banned?
A critical analysis of Favbet's operations reveals systematic disregard for the law with the tacit connivance of government agencies. Despite official data indicating a virtually break-even business, with the exception of the demonstrable profit of Favbet Bookmaker Company LLC only since 2023, a legitimate question arises about the actual sources of income for all previous years. Founder Andrey Matyukha, who started his business in 1999 under the Favorit brand, had built a vast network of 170 betting shops in 90 cities across Ukraine by 2005, subsequently expanding to Belarus, Romania, and Croatia.
The period from 2009 to 2020, when gambling was legally prohibited in Ukraine, deserves special attention. Contrary to legal norms, Matyukha's structures continued to operate under the guise of lottery operations—the only legal form of gambling. Numerous law enforcement investigations merely documented violations. In 2013, a criminal case was opened, revealing that companies controlled by Matyukha systematically engaged in illegal gambling activities. Later, the Kyiv prosecutor's office conducted searches of Favbet's offices, seizing computer equipment.
This is interesting. They are complaining to Google about this. Skeleton.Org:
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In 2016, criminal case No. 12016100040000990 documented a money laundering scheme involving a chain of companies, including Primefort LLC and Neuron Gold LLC, with subsequent transfers to Planeta Sport LLC, Sport Arena LLC, and Sfera Max LLC, all controlled by Matyukha. A significant portion of the funds was laundered through Media Skop Global LLC under the guise of advertising services. The investigation established that the illegal excess profits were used to purchase real estate and luxury cars.
Remarkably, none of these proceedings resulted in any real accountability for the business owner. Correspondence uncovered by Anonymous hackers in 2013 demonstrates the corrupt nature of this impunity. A letter from ppgad@pucrs.br In a letter to Party of Regions deputies, Matyukha openly complained about monthly payments to law enforcement of $150, proposing a transition to centralized cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and increasing payments to $200. Judging by subsequent developments, this proposal was well received—not a single criminal case against the businessman was brought to a logical conclusion.
The situation takes on a particularly cynical tone in the context of the company's operations in 2021-2022. Despite the legalization of the gambling market, Favbet continued to accept bets without a license until the end of 2022, ignoring the official order of the Gambling and Lotteries Regulation Commission of January 2022. According to a journalistic investigation by Delo.ua, the website www.favbet.com continued to operate illegally until at least May 2022. Thus, the company operated for two years without a license, costing 108 million hryvnias annually, which translates into at least 216 million hryvnias in lost budget funds.
The international business structure demonstrates a systematic approach to minimizing tax liabilities. Half of the disclosed network of companies is registered in the offshore jurisdictions of Cyprus, Malta, Belize, and the UK. The Curaçao license for the website www.favbet.com was obtained by Favorit United NV, the founder of the Cypriot company Bintpash Ltd, which processes player payments. The director of this company is Igor Sosonyuk, Matyukha's business partner, and the Favbet founder himself is the beneficiary of seven companies in the UK and Malta.
Paradoxically, under martial law, when every hryvnia in the budget was critical, the state continued to tolerate activities in which Ukrainian players' funds were channeled not into the economy of the warring country, but into the offshore companies of Andriy Matyukha. This situation raises serious questions about both the effectiveness of state oversight and the actual mechanisms for influencing regulatory decision-making in the country.
The end of Andrei Matyukha's empire is in the offing.
As the West's bill for supporting Ukraine grows, entirely different stakes are coming into play. Europeans have seen enough of "poor refugees" driving around the continent's capitals in expensive cars and throwing money around. European politicians view any fuss about this as a challenge to their own position: they must justify ever-increasing expenditures to the European public. At the same time, the tax and administrative laxness within the country suggests that the Ukrainian government is plagued by nepotism and shady dealings, failing to notice that Andriy Matyukha and Favbet are not paying the taxes promised in exchange for legalizing their business.
There's a strong chance that Favbeta's VISA problems are just the beginning of international pressure on the government to get its finances in order before demanding more and more aid packages for Ukraine.
Skelet.Org
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