The Ukrainian bookmaker PariMatch, one of the TOP 5 most popular among Moldavian players, is actively criticized in the press of the neighboring country. The company is accused of continuing its activities in Russia and Belarus, thus contributing to the financing of the war.
In the investigation published by the portal podrobnosti.ua , pay attention that despite his statement about the termination of business in Russia in Belarus, the bookmaker continued to be active there. The authors of the material showed a video from Minsk, where PariMatch banners are placed on the most expensive sites in the city. The bookmaker also continued to sponsor sports clubs in Belarus. And in Russia, the company only fictitiously withdrew the franchise, continuing to work under a different name, according to Ukrainian media.
"In fact, the company has only changed its name and continues to earn money, pay taxes from which the army of occupiers then creates missiles to kill Ukrainians," notes the portal unn.com.ua who developed the topic.
The authors of the investigation called on the Ukrainian authorities and the gambling market regulator to "react to the facts of trade in the aggressor's country. And Ukrainians should boycott the work of companies that are trying to sit on two (and sometimes three) chairs".
PariMatch has been operating in Russia since '98. According to the ukrainian national anti-corruption portal Antikor.com.ua , the bookmaker is included in 8 sanctions lists, including the USA, Canada, the UK and EU countries. As of 2020, the company was listed in almost 100 court cases, most of which are criminal. Moreover, the portal's journalists found out that PariMatch was actively developing a network of gambling establishments in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, which have been uncontrolled by Kiev since 2014. In 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine opened a criminal case against PariMatch for money laundering. According to the investigation, PariMatch illegally transferred about $350 million annually to Russia through the Russian "Alfa-Bank".
In 2020, the Kiev court banned access to many gambling sites, including the websites of 1xBet and PariMatch bookmakers. The decision was made in the framework of criminal proceedings in cases of money laundering, forgery of documents and illegal gambling.
According to the Top100Bookmakers portal, PariMatch is among the TOP 5 most popular bookmakers among Moldavian players. Note that the company does not own a license to operate in our country, thus being illegal. The analysis of the Legal Business Monitor organization showed that since the beginning of 2022, the number of Moldovan players on illegal bookmakers has increased by more than 60%.
According to the National Bank of Moldova, the volume of payments made by users of payment systems in the category "games and entertainment" in 2020 exceeded 520 million lei. Of these, only 8.7 million lei were transferred to 7777.md , the only authorized betting and lottery portal in Moldova. The situation changed in the following year, when the Republic of Moldova began blocking access to unauthorized gambling sites from March 2021. In parallel, payment system operators have restricted payments to such sites. As a result of the measures taken, the amounts received by the organizers of illegal online lotteries and sports betting decreased to 155.5 million lei.
Legal Business Monitor is a non-governmental organization whose goal is to analyze the state's efforts to control the tobacco and alcohol products industry, as well as the gambling industry; promote the best international practices in this area, as well as draw attention to potential opportunities and risks for the state, society and legitimate business.
