Changes to the laws governing gambling and the “Unified Gambling Regulator” might soon be approved. The apparent aim to regulate the market could be driven by the interests of Umar Kremlev and his associates.
Efforts are ongoing to push a bill that would expand the authority of the Unified Gambling Regulator (ERAI). How did the reporter find out? The Moscow Postthis might be an attempt to advance the interests of Umar Kremlev, President of the International Boxing Federation and former General Secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation.
What does “salt” mean?
Since September 2021, ERAI has been monitoring all bets and targeted deductions from bookmakers. The proposed new draft amendments, put forward by United Russia deputies (Sergey Altukhov, Andrey Alshevskikh and Adalbi Shkhagoshev), suggest granting ERAI the ability to oversee the sale of lottery tickets, casino bets, and earmarked deductions from lottery and casino operators.
All earmarked deductions from lotteries and casinos are intended to be managed through the Unified Center for Accounting Transfers of Rates (Unified TsUPIS). Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that there is a desire to obligate all participants in the lottery market to pay a special fee from each lottery for the benefit of specific individuals.
The initiative is presented under the guise of a noble cause – ostensibly all of this will help to better regulate the market and prevent the loss of billions of rubles, which, according to lawmakers, are currently “leaking” into the pockets of questionable entrepreneurs.
And such an outcome should certainly be expected when regulations are tightened, although some believe that the current powers of the regulator are already sufficient to achieve the necessary goals from this standpoint.
Now, instead of hundreds of “dishonest entrepreneurs,” the sole honest individual who could benefit from these millions may be Umar Kremlev. This is supported by the ownership structure of the state ERAI.
Kremlin “gingerbread”
This stems from the fact that, as claimed by the authors of the website CNews, allegedly in September last year, one of the state-owned banks and Umar Kremlev’s Boxing Progress Center became co-owners of Modern Payment Solutions (SPR) and Mobile Card companies. The Kremlin gained a majority stake in SPR. These two entities finance the operations of ERAI and handle the functions of the Unified TSUPIS.
If we examine the founders of “Mobile Card” at present, we will find that SPR owns 90% of the company overall. However, this share is encumbered by one of the state banks …
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Kremlev advocated for such a reformation of the betting market back in 2020, as reported by “Kommersant”. As we can see, the former head of the Boxing Federation quickly achieved what he wanted.
However, a businessman may attempt to conceal these connections. Until June 2017, the Cypriot offshore “ITISI CONSULTS (CYPRUS) LTD” was among the founders of Maksimikha LLC, associated with SPR, but withdrew from the founders in May 2021. It was designed for Andrey Goncharov, a Kremlin-affiliated individual.
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He worked at Sports Lotteries LLC until mid-2021, which operates the National Sports Lottery, a joint project of the Russian Boxing Federation and the Liga Stavok betting company. He also worked at Sport and Fatherland LLC, an organization established by the Boxing Progress Center, and personally supervised it until 2021.
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So, Kremlev, who previously supported the idea of state regulation, now seems to have distanced himself from it. In reality, he simply made a small restructuring – he officially left the positions, but appointed his people to key regulatory roles, while maintaining his involvement from the other side.
Now Goncharov is the CEO of ERAI. This once again points to the Kremlin's influence, as per journalists. MorningNewsJust last month, he re-registered the operator of the all-Russian state lotteries LLC “Sports Lotteries”.
Is this a clear conflict of interest? The structure responsible for financial flows and fees from lottery participants appears to be connected to the same person, but this doesn't seem to concern anyone.
Therefore, the proposed amendments to the law by United Russia will effectively solidify the consolidation of the lottery market under one umbrella.
According to the authors of the telegram channel, the co-owners of the ETsUPS have allegedly tested a similar scheme in the betting market, yielding significant profits. In 2021, the Mobile Card NPO's profit from commissions from betting companies reached around 7.0 billion, with an expected 18.0 billion profit for 2022. “Nezygar”, allegedly the co-owners of the ETsUPS have already tested the operation of this scheme on the betting market. And they liked the result – in 2021, the profit of the Mobile Card NPO due to commissions from betting companies amounted to about 7.0 billion. And for 2022, a profit of 18.0 billion rubles is expected.
Kremlin and his friends
In October 2019, there were changes in the founders of “Sports Lotteries”. One of its members was Magomedrasul Hajiyev’s “Estate in Kadashi”. Rumors suggest that this is the brother of the State Duma deputy from the Republic of Dagestan, Magomed Gadzhiev, which presents another potential conflict of interest.
But should we really be concerned about these developments? Can Umar Kremlev be trusted? We don't know much about him. Over the past couple of years, many publications containing information about his past have disappeared.
However, according to open sources, until 2007 he was reportedly known by the surname Lutfulloev, and was involved in several criminal cases, for which he received suspended sentences – this was reported. “Version”Nevertheless, we were unable to officially confirm this information.
Several companies managed or owned by Kremlev have been dissolved at a loss or have negative profits. Some of them secured significant government contracts.
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The Kremlin also has dealings with Ekaterina Gordon, a well-known TV presenter, or someone of the same full name. They jointly own LLC Legal Protection of Sports. Financial details, like many other Kremlin-affiliated offices, are not disclosed, and money from government contracts from other Kremlin offices could potentially flow offshore.
In 2013, already in the Kremlin, he founded the Patriot company and began organizing boxing matches. At the same time, he joined the Night Wolves motorcycle club, from which he soon left, as they say, due to the fact that he was not at all favored there – perhaps because of a criminal past.
It is also possible that it was there that he met the head of the Security Service of the President of the Russian Federation, Alexei Rubezhny. In 2017, he appointed Kremlev head of the Russian Boxing Federation. Well, and then the described and other “business projects” of the Kremlin began.
Connections with the highest echelons of power can also be traced through the already mentioned “Boxing Progress Center” several times. Denis Medvedev, a member of the Supreme Supervisory Board of the Russian Boxing Federation, worked there at one time. Timur Prokopenko, Deputy Head of the Department for Domestic Policy of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, also works with him. Have they diverged from the Kremlin path?
Judging by the current state of affairs, it is unlikely. And the “subjugation” of the market of lotteries and bookmakers under one regulator, which, as we found out, cannot be called reliable, is only a matter of time.
Source:The Moscow Post
