War is the perfect time, among other things, for real estate investment. Those who will guess the bottom and the outcome of a particular siege will drown in profits. Maxim Krippa, aka Max Krippa, aka Krippa Maxim Vladimirovich may be considered a lucky man. But something tells us that his luck is a product of insider information provided by his extensive Russian connections.

The Mysterious Buyer: Prominvestbank Estate Sold To Max Krippa

A few months ago, an auction was held on «Prozorro.Prodazhi» for the sale of an estate with a lot of land and a batch of houses in the Koncha-Zaspa area [it’s where most of the Ukrainian elite reside]. The property was sold by the nationalized «Prominvestbank» for 188 million hryvnias.

Prominvest bank was seized by Ukrainian authorities. Max Krippa bought some of its assets

The auction was won by a company that offered one and a half times the starting price — 311 million hryvnias. This is LLC «Midal». Two other companies — LLC «Engineering Analytics» and LLC «Green House» — seemed to be participating in the bidding, but their price offers did not change at all.

Tracking Midal Ltd Down To Krippa

The owner of LLC «Green House» through LLC «Capital Pravis Legal Association» is indicated as Boris Grytsenko. The owners of LLC «Engineering Analytics» are indicated as its director Oleh Sokhan, Volodymyr Perepelitsa, and Valeriy Kleban.

But in this case, we are more interested in the winner of the auction — LLC «Midal».

And its owner is Kryppa Maxim Vladimirovich. This is the same person who was behind the purchase of the Dnipro Hotel at the beginning of Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidency.

To remind you, in 2020, the state-owned hotel «Dnipro» in the city center was sold for 1 billion 111 million hryvnias. The price caused bewilderment among those who bothered to divide the amount of money received for the hotel by its area. Because it turned out that a square meter of commercial real estate in the heart of Kyiv cost a little over one and a half thousand dollars. Which was comparable to a square meter of a panel apartment in Troyeshchyna. But all this did not prevent the sale of «Dnipro», nor did it stop the talk about the successes of «digitalization».

However, those who dug deeper were even more puzzled by the company that bought the hotel and the surname of its owner. The organizers of the auction for the sale of the hotel «Dnipro» announced that the hotel was bought by a «Ukrainian esports team».

The company «Smartland», which «won» the auction to buy «Dnipro», was registered a few days before the auction in Brovary at Kyivska Street, 130, by a certain Maksym Tereshchuk. By the way, pay attention to its financial indicators — the company is unprofitable, but somehow finds a billion for the purchase of a hotel.

In the list of its founders, Maxim Krippa was not mentioned. However, the LLC «Smartland» was registered in Brovary, in a house that belonged to Krippa. Currently, the owner is listed as the Cypriot company Absentem Limited, founded in 2012. The Cypriots also own 9 acres of land at this address.

In neighboring houses — No. 126 and 146 — Krippa’s companies are also registered. On Kievskaya Street, 126 (in the photo), LLC «Brovarsky optovyi rynok», «Iksion group», and also LLC «Club Jaguar» (Kievskaya 146) are registered, owned by Krippa.

And so, in 2020, a logical question arose — who is Maxim Krippa, actually?

Maxim Krippa: Deciphering The True Identity

Maxim Krippa, a Ukrainian entrepreneur who has made his fortune in the porn and gambling industries, has gained notoriety in certain British circles for his frequent visits to London. During his visits, Krippa would travel with a heavy security detail reminiscent of a dictatorship, drawing attention wherever he went. Now, Krippa and his associate Max Polyakov have become the true beneficiaries of the acquisition of the Dnipro Hotel in Kyiv. The hotel was purchased by a group of entities closely associated with illegal adult and gambling industries, and its location in the heart of Kyiv makes it a convenient base for Krippa’s business of offering gambling and prostitution services.

Krippa Purchased Dnipro Hotel For His Partners?

The Dnipro Hotel, a Stalinist-era building dating back to the post-World War II period, has a complex history, but its most notable feature is its prime location. While there are other places in Kyiv where similar services can be found, the acquisition of the Dnipro Hotel is expected to pay off handsomely for Krippa and his associates due to its central location and the marketing potential it offers. The purchase price for the hotel was a staggering £28,559,775.

The Ukrainian government’s approval of the Dnipro Hotel acquisition by Maxim Krippa and his associates is a subject of speculation, given the country’s reputation for corruption. It’s possible that Krippa’s history of conflicts with the law may have played a role in this decision.

Gambling, Porn, Dating And The Remainder Of The Seven Deathly Sins Of Maxim Krippa

Krippa has also been implicated in an investigation by the cyber police into an organized criminal group involved in online gambling and the creation of porn studios in Ukraine. The group was recently targeted by law enforcement, resulting in the closure of eight gambling sites and the arrest of twelve individuals. The investigation uncovered over 200 online casino sites involved in the case, with Max Polyakov from Zaporozhye, now residing in the USA, being identified as the central figure in the illegal gaming business in Ukraine. Among his assets are companies such as Noosphere Ventures, Together Networks, Murka, and the defunct aerospace startup FireFly, with the group’s activities being overseen by Polyakov’s partner in Kiev, Maxim Krippa.

According to law enforcement, the group has been operating for several years, with a porn studio located in the centre of Zaporozhye being closed off by enforcers in 2015. The studio was situated in the office of Easy Date, a company under Max Polyakov’s dating sites holding, and operational activities revealed that several online casino sites were also operating from the same computers, implicating the office as part of the broader criminal network.

Vulkan — The Milking Cow Of Max Krippa

In 2017, a considerable amount of information was gathered and operational activities were initiated. In the past year, police officers have shut down over 50 porn studios located in different parts of Ukraine and disrupted the operations of dozens of online casino sites. However, it was only at the start of 2018 that the head of the criminal organization was apprehended. It was revealed that the group’s various regional units were all controlled from several offices located in Kiev.

The primary product of the group is online casino sites, such as «Vulkan.» These resources are aimed at residents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and despite being blocked in Ukraine, the online casino support service offers programs that replace IP addresses, providing anonymous access to these sites. The group’s money input-output scheme during gameplay relies solely on Russian banking institutions and payment systems.

Maxim Krippa and his accomplices.

Max Polyakov’s business in Russia traces back to 2010, when he and Krippa built a business to provide internet gaming services with the support of Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. Online gambling is also prohibited in Russia, so to avoid criminal prosecution, Polyakov «evacuated» his partners to Ukraine, where some were able to acquire Ukrainian citizenship. In 2013, they set up a similar business in Ukraine under the company EvoPlay, which was already under the control of Maxim Krippa. Recently, the company has obtained the Vulkan brand license on the internet and blocked the operation of all sites with the same or similar names.

Online Dating To Gambling Transition: How Max Krippa And Max Polyakov Diversified Their Income

Maxim Krippa and Max Polyakov were able to secure their dominance in the online casino market, eliminating most of their competition and becoming the primary creators and distributors of Vulkan casino sites. In previous years, the illegal activities of Polyakov’s group were poorly monitored by law enforcement, allowing them to continue their operations with little difficulty.

Max Polyakov and Max Krippa.

However, in 2015, the cyber police began preparing for a major operation to target not only the direct performers, but also the organizers of online casinos and porn studios. As a result, law enforcement officials have conducted 15 authorized searches and seized a significant amount of evidence, including computer equipment, mobile phones, storage media, bank cards, passports, official documents, weapons, ammunition, drugs, and foreign currency. The cyber police’s actions have had a significant impact on Polyakov’s group, disrupting their illegal business operations.

Cyber Police Comes Uninvited

According to sources in the cyber police, several companies affiliated with Max Polyakov and Maxim Krippa remain under suspicion to this day. Evoplay, in particular, is believed to be the operational control center for the gambling resources of the criminal group. The base office for Krippa and Polyakov’s companies is reportedly located at Naberezhno-Pecherskaya, 1 in Kiev, and was searched by law enforcement in 2015 on suspicion of organizing the activities of the Vulcan casino.

Maxim Krippa and Vulkan casino.

Maxim Krippa is said to receive his main income from the company that serves as the official operator of the Vulcan casino, while Polyakov made his fortune in both online gambling and porn chats, despite both topics being banned in Ukraine and Russia. However, their continued operation suggests that they have powerful support or cover-up from someone like Mikhail Oseevsky, the head of Rostelecom, the largest telecommunication service provider in Russia. Additionally, Krippa is said to have political ambitions.

In Conclusion: Krippa Maxim Vladimirovich Is Cruising

Maxim Krippa, who has gone from the porn industry to becoming a co-owner of the Dnepr hotel, seems to have political ambitions. Despite the fact that the online gambling and porn industries are banned in both Ukraine and Russia, Krippa and his business partner Polyakov have managed to thrive with the help of powerful support, including from Mikhail Oseevsky, the head of Rostelecom — Russia’s largest telecommunication service provider. Even with numerous scandals and legal proceedings, Krippa has managed to avoid consequences, which suggests he has the right connections. It’s no surprise that Krippa and his fellow porn businessmen have attempted to enter politics in local elections, with their wealth and connections to back them up.