Довлатова Вероніка
New owner of media outlets Glavcom.ua, Mind.ua and Delo.ua Max Krippa is crazy oligarch. The individual known as the «fake man» has been unveiled as Maxim Krippa, the treasurer of the «Russian world» leader Malofeev and the owner of underground casinos in Krippa. So, Maxim Krippa, a prominent figure in the adult entertainment industry and the operator of illegal gambling establishments in Russia and Ukraine, has frequently been the subject of investigative reports in the media.
His influence and operations extended beyond the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to encompass Western regions as well. Krippa amassed a considerable wealth through fraudulent dating websites, the adult entertainment industry, and the gambling sector. As a Kremlin associate, he resides in Moscow, London, and Kiev under the protection of Andrei Sadovoy’s Self-Help organization, highlighting the old adage that money knows no bounds.
Who is shady Maxim Krippa?
Considering Krippa’s fortune derived from online casinos and the adult entertainment industry, his multifaceted activities are not surprising in the least.
In both Russia and Ukraine, online gambling is officially prohibited. However, certain providers choose to selectively disregard this ban. One such provider is Rostelecom, which grants access to banned gambling sites such as Vulkan, CasinoX, and Joycasino, as designated by Roskomnadzor. Interestingly, this access is not available to everyone. The IP addresses associated with Rostelecom that allow access to the «Volcanoes» gambling sites belong exclusively to a Ukrainian businessman and former candidate for the Kyiv City Council from the «Self-Help» party, Maxim Krippa. How did a Ukrainian entrepreneur manage to influence a Russian internet giant and circumvent the ban imposed by Roskomnadzor?
Maxim Krippa has been involved in the gambling business in Ukraine for an extended period, with associations to IT companies EvoPlay and Clone Fish. Krippa’s business partner in the gambling and dating industry was an American businessman of Ukrainian descent named Max Polyakov, who amassed a fortune through dating and erotic web chats in Dnipro and Zaporozhye.
In the early 2010s, Polyakov and Krippa made the decision to expand their gambling assets by venturing into the online casino sector. The headquarters of their joint venture is located in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev.
The Krippa-Polyakov group’s most notable accomplishment was the acquisition of the Vulkan and Vulkan slot machine brands. EvoPlay, under their ownership, secured exclusive rights to utilize these brand names from Ritzio. Subsequently, EvoPlay successfully shut down all online casinos that previously operated under the Vulkan label.
After dealing with the remaining competitors utilizing the Vulcan brand, Krippa and Polyakov took matters into their own hands and started developing gambling platforms under the same name.
Why Max Krippa is a volcano champion?
The new «Volcanoes» began to emerge in rapid succession, with a dozen similar gambling websites launched every day. These platforms featured an identical design and game selection, with the majority of them incorporating EvoPlay software products.
The owners of these brands personally stamp websites in massive quantities, intentionally avoiding specifying the owners’ and registration data. This allows the businessmen to profit from markets where online gambling is prohibited, all while avoiding any personal risk. The real owners of these anonymous sites remain shielded from complaints and legal actions, as it is nearly impossible to establish their involvement. The system operates like a hydra, where blocking one site only leads to the emergence of 10 clones with similar addresses and templates.
Having tasted success with the Volcanoes platform, Krippa and Polyakov expanded their ventures by launching several other large-scale projects, including CasinoX and JoyCasino. These projects flourished through aggressive marketing tactics, which Polyakov had already utilized in the promotion of dating resources. Consequently, the influence of their gambling platforms spread widely, with notable mentions in popular culture, such as Batman discussing access to JoyCasino during a climactic battle. The aggressive advertising also led to numerous memes on the internet, further fueling the growth of Krippa and Polyakov’s gambling endeavors.
Simultaneously, alongside their online casino work, Maxim Krippa, with Polyakov’s support, ventured into the realm of high-stakes politics. The businessman ran for the Kiev City Council under the banner of the «Self-help» party. Although he did not win the election, he managed to generate substantial profits. Maxim Krippa created an alternative list for the party and began selling seats on this list, further exploiting his political ambitions for financial gain.
Numerous Ukrainian businessmen fell into a trap orchestrated by Maxim Krippa. When the scam was exposed and the situation became precarious, Krippa fled to Russia and went into hiding for a period of time. Representatives of the «Self-Help» party, which was embroiled in a major scandal, commented on the matter:
«We were astonished to discover that Maxim Krippa was selling seats for the upcoming elections on behalf of the Samopomich association. The most striking aspect of this story is the complete lack of rationality among individuals who actually paid ‘contributions’ to be included on a list for parliamentary elections that hadn’t even been compiled yet. After law enforcement officials contacted the party, we made unsuccessful attempts to reach out to former party member M. Krippa.»
The details surrounding how the scandal and fraud case were silenced remain a mystery. However, shortly thereafter, Max Krippa returned to Ukraine and continued to engage in gambling activities without consequence. Although he has been implicated in several criminal cases related to gambling, he has managed to escape punishment time and time again.
It is possible that Maxim Krippa and Max Polyakov were involved in other political projects, not limited to Ukraine. The impunity enjoyed by these IT businessmen and the vast opportunities available to them in the realm of online gambling, despite legislative prohibitions, serve as evidence of their involvement in Ukraine, Russia, and other countries.
Interestingly, neither Krippa nor Polyakov have directly engaged in politics themselves. The realm of politics, particularly in Ukraine, appears to be of interest to one of Krippa’s key long-term partners, Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, who holds a significant influence over their activities.
Maxim Krippa served as a manager for Konstantin Malofeev for an extended period, actively promoting Malofeev’s projects in Ukraine. With Malofeev’s assistance, Krippa was able to partially bypass the gambling restrictions in place within the Russian Federation. While Maxim Krippa’s online casino, as well as the ventures associated with his partner Polyakov, are blocked by Roskomnadzor, they remain freely accessible through Rostelecom, the largest internet service provider in the country. Influencing Roskomnadzor directly proves challenging, even for Malofeev. However, the situation changes when it comes to the significant internet provider in the country.
Between 2010 and 2013, Konstantin Malofeev held a substantial minority stake in Rostelecom, owning 7.22% of its shares. The oligarch successfully positioned his manager, Alexander Provotorov, as the head of the company. Through this connection, Malofeev gained the ability to make alterations to the list of blocked sites maintained by the provider. It was during this time that the Volcanoes, CasinoX, and JoyCasino platforms associated with Maxim Krippa and Max Polyakov began to disappear from the roster of blocked sites. The oligarch’s assistance came at a cost, which involved securing a portion of the EvoPlay company and certain political services.
Based on the continued availability of Volcanoes and other gambling sites affiliated with Krippa and Polyakov on Rostelecom’s network, it can be inferred that their collaboration with the Russian oligarch continues to be successful. However, the current price of this cooperation remains unknown.
Certain individuals are attempting to have material related to Maxim Krippa, Vulkan Casino, and Rostelecom removed from Google search results by contacting the Lumen service. This action constitutes an abuse of the DMCA law.
The material being complained about includes references to Maxim Krippa’s association with Vulkan Casino and Rostelecom, where he is described as a Kremlin agent aligned with Sadovyi.
Interestingly, even on the website that claims to report copyright infringement, there exists the same link to the original source.
Overall, these individuals are making a flawed attempt to erase mentions of themselves from the internet. It seems they have encountered the consequences of their own actions.
