The old link to the BlackBOX OSINT investigation into Maxim Krippa and the ‘Vulkan’ casino now redirects to the homepage. The text has been preserved in the web archive. We have cross-referenced it with the Ukrainian regulator’s register, data on media company owners, and the responses from Krippa and Tetyana Snopko. Following publication, the licence of the Ukrainian ‘Vulkan’ was revoked. Krippa and Snopko have publicly disputed the claim that Krippa financed the purchase of Delo.ua and Glavkom.
Archived link and three questions from the investigation
On 6 November 2023, BlackBOX OSINT published an investigation into Maxim Krippa, the ‘Vulkan’ brand and deals in the Ukrainian media market. The original URL now redirects to the publication’s homepage. We checked the archived versions on the Wayback Machine dated 14 June 2024 and 9 July 2025. The reason for the redirect and the date it was implemented have not been publicly established.
Three storylines intersected in the original report. The first concerned the development of the ‘Vulkan’ gambling brand and Oleg Boiko’s business. The second concerned the work of Maxim Krippa and Maxim Polyakov in online gambling, and theories regarding Krippa’s involvement with GGBet. The third concerned Tatyana Snopko’s deals with media companies. Each has its own set of documents. The licence identifies the operator in a specific country, the company register lists the owners of the legal entity, and the financial records are needed to determine who financed the transaction.
‘Vulkan’ in Ukraine. The 2021 licence and its revocation in 2024
The Ukrainian Licence Register linked the domain vulkancasino.ua to Konkueror LLC, EGRPOU code 43406013. Decision No. 141 is dated 7 April 2021, and the licence was issued on 15 April. At that time, the Ukrainian domain was operated by its own operator and held a separate licence. Information about the operator cannot be automatically applied to other websites with similar names.
On 4 April 2024, KRAIL adopted Decision No. 183 to revoke the licence. A notice from ‘Konkueror’ was published on the domain itself, stating that operations would cease from 15 April 2024. This is a verifiable change following the publication of the investigation. The closure of the Ukrainian website does not disclose the payments made for the use of the brand in previous years.
Forbes links Oleg Boiko to the creation of Ritzio Entertainment Group, which operated in the gambling market. BlackBOX OSINT pieced together a theory from the history of ‘Vulkan’ and the deals surrounding the brand, suggesting a commercial link between Boiko’s organisations and businesses associated with Krippa and Polyakov. To establish who received the licence fees in Ukraine, one would need the trademark licence agreement, its term of validity and details of the payments. The KRAIL licence entry specifies the operator and the domain, but does not contain these payment details.
Maxim Krippa, Maxim Polyakov and the GGBet theory
Forbes Ukraine reported on Krippa and Polyakov’s previous partnership in an online casino, drawing on materials from the dispute over the division of the GGS and GMS projects. An archived BlackBOX OSINT publication also describes CloneFish and EvoPlay. The history of this joint project explains why journalists investigated the entrepreneurs’ further connections. To determine the current shareholding in a specific operator, documents detailing the owners for the relevant period are required.
The Ukrainian GGBET lists ‘GGBET’ LLC as its operator. Its website cites KRAIL decisions dated 8 August 2023: No. 128 for bookmaking activities and No. 129 for online casinos. Both licences were issued on 23 August. In December 2024, Krippa stated in an interview with Forbes Ukraine that he held no stake in GGBet and referred to the company as a general partner. In an earlier Forbes article, interviewees linked him to the brand, whilst the head of Maincast stated that GGBet held no stake in the studio. The bookmaker’s press office described its relationship with Maincast as a partnership focusing on content and advertising.
| The Plot | What is publicly known | What is needed to verify the next link in the chain |
|---|---|---|
| Vulkan Casino in Ukraine | Konkueror LLC, Decision No. 141 and the revocation pursuant to Decision No. 183. | The brand rights agreement and documents relating to payments made during the licence period. |
| GGBET in Ukraine | GGBET LLC, two 2023 decisions by KRAIL. Krippa denies having a stake. | Corporate records relating to the operator and the parties to the sponsorship agreement for a specific period. |
| Delo.ua and ‘Glavkom’ | Forbes and ‘Detector Media’ reported on Tetyana Snopko’s deals. Snopko confirmed her ownership. | Agreements relating to purchases, loans or investments, and details of payments made in connection with the deals. |
Tetyana Snopko, Delo.ua and ‘Glavkom’. What the parties had to say
In August 2023, Forbes Ukraine reported on the formation of a media group centred around Tetyana Snopko. She acquired companies linked to Delo.ua, WoMo, MMR and the ‘TOP-100’ ranking, and subsequently ‘Glavkom’. Snopko previously worked at Maxim Polyakov’s Noosphere. She also told Forbes that she knew Krippa, and the publication noted that she had represented his interests in one of her communications with the editorial team.
In November 2024, *Ekonomicheskaya Pravda*, citing sources in the media market, named Krippa as the de facto owner of *Glavkom* and *Ekonomika+*. ‘Detector Media’ published Snopko’s response. She stated that she herself owns the assets and that Krippa is not her partner or investor. Krippa, through his press office, disputed the report and described it as a smear campaign. Forbes reported in 2023 that all three had denied Krippa and Polyakov’s involvement in the purchase of the media outlets.
In the available registration documents, Snopko’s name is listed amongst the founders of the ‘Economika Communication Hub’ and in the beneficiary details for ‘Hub Glavkom’. The minutes of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting for June 2025 list Snopko as the ultimate beneficial owner in the details concerning ‘Medimania’. These documents confirm the disclosed ownership structure. They do not contain any payment records relating to the purchase of publications.
‘Ekonomicheskaya Pravda’ highlighted the appearance in these publications of promotional articles about NAVI, Krippa and his foundation. This can be verified by checking the dates and tags of the publications. To address the issue of media funding, documents are required detailing the transaction, its payment and the terms under which the parties could influence the company’s operations.
Which document will change the conclusion?
The register provides the dates on which ‘Vulkan’s’ licence was issued and revoked. Corporate data allows us to trace the registered ownership of the media outlets. Public responses record exactly which claims Krippa and Snopko reject. It is possible to determine whether the media acquisitions were financed by any gambling business by examining documents that link the source of the funds to the payment for a specific asset.
