Bulgarian businessman Georgi Papazki is expanding his gambling business in Ukraine: journalists uncover ties to Stolar’s structures and Russian VS Energy

Bulgarian businessman Georgi Papazki is expanding his gambling business in Ukraine: journalists uncover ties to Stolar’s structures and Russian VS Energy

Bulgarian businessman Georgi Papazki is actively entering the Ukrainian gambling market through several related companies. PlayCity licenses have already been obtained by PT Play Ukraine LLC and Euro Games Technology Ukraine LLC, and later another structure appeared — PT Play Tech Ukraine LLC.

This is discussed in the BIHUS Info investigation.

According to journalists, PT Play manufactures gambling machines, equipment, and software, and is also linked to the WinBet and InBet brands. The Ukrainian companies PT Play and Euro Games Technology were registered at the same address, and their executives and owners have close business ties. The investigators also draw attention to Georgi Papazki’s brother — Walter, whom Bulgarian sources link to a case involving the financing of a contract killing of a competitor.

Papazki’s first major project in Ukraine was supposed to be a casino in Kyiv’s Premier Palace hotel, with declared investments of 500 million hryvnias. However, PlayCity refused to issue the license due to the seizure of the hotel, which law enforcement agencies associate with the Russian group VS Energy and its co-owners Aleksander Babakov, Mikhail Voyevodin, and Yevgeniy Giner.

The journalists also traced Papazki’s connections with Bulgarian gambling magnate Vasil Bozhkov, whose name has appeared in investigations regarding contacts with the Wagner PMC, YevgenIy Prigozhin, and possible ties to Russian special services. Papazki himself acknowledges only past business relations with Bozhkov and denies any acquaintance with Prigozhin or Sergey Naryshkin.

The authors of the investigation pay special attention to the businessman’s activities in the Ukrainian direction. In 2021, Papazki became a co-owner of Casino Solution — the owner of the Betmatch trademark. The second co-owner was the «Striminvest» fund, which journalists link to the circle of MP Vadym Stolar from the banned OPFL party. The businessman himself claims he is not acquainted with Stolar, and the project was never implemented.

PlayCity reported that before issuing licenses to PT Play Ukraine and Euro Games Technology Ukraine, the companies were checked with the SSU, SBI, National Police, ESBU, State Tax Service, and the State Financial Monitoring Service. None of the state bodies provided grounds for refusing the licenses, so the companies linked to Papazki continue to operate and expand their activities in Ukraine.