The State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine has blocked over 2 billion hryvnias in accounts linked to the company Royal Pay Europe, which was sanctioned by a decision of the National Security and Defence Council, reports ZN.UA.
According to the publication’s sources, prior to the company’s inclusion in the sanctions list, there were more than 2 billion hryvnias in the related accounts. All these funds were blocked as part of relevant financial investigations and remain in bank accounts at the time the sanctions were enacted. This means that they are preserved for future confiscation by current legislation and Ukraine’s recovery.
As reported yesterday by the publication "Obozrevatel", the funds associated with Royal Pay Europe and Sergey Kondratenko are held in accounts in Ukrainian banks JSC "Crystalbank" and PJSC "CB "Accordbank", JSC "Ukrgasbank", and the liquidated JSC "Megabank".
In addition, law enforcement intends to investigate the role of the director of the banking supervision department of the National Bank, Nataliya Dehtyarova, in facilitating the development of the Russian financial sector in Ukraine and her protection of certain Russian companies.
The Riga-registered company Royal Pay Europe is linked to the Russian bookmaker 1xBet and may be involved in transferring payments to offshore bookmakers and online casinos.
The sanctions imposed on it include blocking assets, prohibiting capital outflows from Ukraine, halting the fulfillment of financial and economic obligations, banning participation in the privatization and rental of state property, and restricting rights to manage securities.
According to the media, Royal Pay Europe belongs to a Russian citizen with a Cypriot passport, Sergey Kondratenko, and was founded in 2016.