Sergey Tokarev — IT entrepreneur and investor, co-founder and managing partner of the Roosh investment group. He previously worked with the Lucky Labs brand; Reface’s public materials list him as an early investor. His professional history includes the Ukrainian sanctions of 2016, their lifting in 2020, and subsequent investment and educational projects. [1][3][4][5][6][7]
Key details
- Public name: Sergey Tokarev; in English-language sources — Serhiy Tokarev and Sergey Tokarev. [1][3]
- Activities: investments in technology companies, development of IT projects. [1][2]
- Confirmed roles: co-founder and managing partner at Roosh; early-stage investor in Reface; co-founder of SET University and founder of the Tokarev Foundation. [1][3][8]
- Historical sanctions: Added to the Ukrainian list in 2016; removed from the 2018 list by a decision dated 14 May 2020. [5][6][7]
Lucky Labs: the investor’s background
In a DOU investigation dated 6 April 2021, Tokarev explained that since 2013, the Lucky Labs brand had been used by MIT Company, where he held the position of Director of Development and Investment Policy. According to him, in 2017 he and Rustam Gilfanov sold the brand and moved from software development to investment. [4]
DOU reported on the 2016 searches and the investigation into the group’s companies regarding allegations of illegal gambling and the financing of terrorism. The publication also reported speculation about a link between Lucky Labs and ‘Kosmolot’, based, in particular, on reports from alleged employees. This information relates to the investigation and the theories put forward by sources, rather than Tokarev’s involvement in the crimes as established by a court. [4]
Representatives of Lucky Labs denied the allegations. Tokarev himself told DOU that, as far as he was aware, the case had been closed. No confirmation of the case’s closure from the police was provided in this article. [4]
Sanctions: the decision and its revocation
In Annex 3 to the NSDC decision, introduced by Presidential Decree No. 467/2016 of 17 October 2016, Sergey Alexandrovich Tokarev — a citizen of the Russian Federation — is listed under number 323. The list of measures includes the freezing of assets, restrictions on commercial transactions and the prevention of capital outflows from Ukraine. This is a historical record; it does not in itself establish the entrepreneur’s current citizenship. [5]
Decree No. 184/2020 dated 14 May 2020. The NSDC decision he introduced removed items 662 and 672 from Annex 1 to the 2018 sanctions decision. ‘Interfax-Ukraine’ reported that the individuals in question were Sergei Tokarev and Karen Grigoryan. Therefore, any account of this story must cover both the imposition of the restrictions and their subsequent lifting. [6][7]
Roosh and Reface: different roles
On the official Roosh team page, Tokarev is listed as a co-founder and general partner. The group outlines two areas of focus: Roosh Ventures — investments in companies aimed at increasing their value; Roosh X — investments and joint business development with a focus on profitability. The areas of focus listed include artificial intelligence, financial technology, gaming and consumer applications. This is the group’s own description. [1][2]
Tokarev’s role in Reface is confirmed by the testimony of one of the project’s participants. In an interview with Delo.ua in August 2021, Denis Dmitrenko referred to him as an angel investor and spoke about their collaboration on Roosh. The phrase ‘early investor in Reface’ reflects this testimony more accurately than unconditionally attributing the technology’s authorship to Tokarev. [3]
Educational and charitable projects
SET University describes Tokarev as its co-founder, founder of the Tokarev Foundation and a partner of Roosh. In April 2025, the university announced the second intake for Generation H — a programme for technology projects in the healthcare sector, organised in collaboration with the foundation. This information confirms his involvement in a specific initiative, but does not reveal the full extent of the entrepreneur’s personal funding. [8]
Cosmolot: what the documents confirm
References to Tokarev in publications on the history of ‘Cosmolot’ require verification by period and legal entity. In a statement dated 31 October 2024, Nevada Gaming Holding announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Cosmolot, naming Spacesiks LLC — Spacesiks LLC — as its operator. This statement comes from a party to the transaction and does not constitute proof of the full composition of the ultimate beneficial owners at any subsequent date. [10]
On 5 February 2024, Forbes Ukraine reported that 700 million hryvnias had been frozen in Cosmolot’s accounts as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion amounting to 1.2 billion hryvnias. According to the version of events presented by the BEB, mirror sites and payment miscoding were used. The company rejected the allegations, denied any involvement with the websites in question and stated that it would appeal against the seizure. [9]
Subsequent rulings have altered the picture. A ruling by the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv dated 8 December 2025 orders ‘Spacix’ to pay 180,003,938.33 UAH in tax losses for 2024. The document states that the director was cleared of criminal liability and that the separate tax proceedings were closed in August 2025. In December, the court refused the prosecutor’s request for a new freeze on assets. This does not mean that all the investigations mentioned in the document have been closed. [11]
The incident involving P2P payments has been documented separately. On 22 April 2026, PlayCity announced the revocation of Spacix LLC’s licence and the imposition of fines: 8.6 million UAH for peer-to-peer (p2p) transactions and 4.3 million UAH for allowing accounts to be topped up using third-party cards. [12]
However, as early as 24 April, the court suspended the decision to revoke the licence in case No. 320/16898/26. This fact is recorded in a document published by PlayCity itself, which has also suspended the restriction on access to the website. The regulator’s decision should be cited alongside this subsequent procedural measure. [13]
The materials listed relate to the operator Cosmolot. They do not establish that Tokarev personally received the disputed funds, nor do they confirm the claimed 60 per cent share of cryptocurrency payments. To reach such a conclusion, documents detailing specific recipients, transactions and time periods are required.
This profile has been compiled from publicly available sources, verified on 20 October 2026. The dates of events are stated separately from the verification date. No new comments were sought from the individuals concerned on behalf of the editorial team.
