The court transferred to the state about two billion hryvnias of the company Royal Pay of Sergey Kondratenko, associated with the Russian bookmaker 1xBet

The court transferred to the state about two billion hryvnias of the company Royal Pay of Sergey Kondratenko, associated with the Russian bookmaker 1xBet

On September 26, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court decided to confiscate assets belonging to the company Royal Pay Europe, affiliated with the Russian bookmaker 1xBet, and the income derived from them.

This was reported by the press service of the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

This decision was made following an appeal by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and LLC Royal Pay Europe against the High Anti-Corruption Court’s decision from May 31. At that time, the court partially satisfied the Ministry of Justice’s claim and denied the request to confiscate income.

The first-instance court confiscated to state income the following assets from LLC Royal Pay Europe: 53 million hryvnias, 54.316 thousand euros, and 3.490 million dollars, as well as securities valued at 1.258 billion hryvnias and 494.158 million hryvnias.

It is noted that the ruling came into legal force upon its announcement and cannot be appealed further.

As reported by the State Bureau of Investigation, during the investigation, the Bureau’s employees, together with the SSU and other state bodies, established and documented the connection between the company Sia Royal Pay Europe and the Russian bookmaker 1xBet. The Russian company was represented in Ukraine by LLC "Your Betting Company" and other companies and individuals who acted to the detriment of Ukraine’s national interests and national security.

On December 25 of last year, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit in the High Anti-Corruption Court requesting sanctions in the form of confiscation of LLC "Royal Pay" assets, namely securities and funds totaling more than 1.8 billion hryvnias, for the benefit of the state.

On January 12, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted sanctions against a number of companies and individuals, including LLC "Royal Pay Europe," which belonged to a Russian citizen with a Cypriot passport, Sergey Kondratenko. According to the NBU, the firm had a license to accept payments and service card transactions in European and British jurisdictions and cooperated with the gaming business, including the Russian bookmaker 1xBet, which was stripped of its license in Ukraine in September 2022.