The Kyiv Commercial Court has begun hearing a claim brought by the construction company Budsvit Company against the well-known online casino Cosmolot (Space LLC). The claimant is seeking to recover 57.6 million hryvnias in ‘monetary compensation’ from the defendant, as well as an agency fee and reimbursement of additional expenses under two contracts. The total amount of claims against entities linked to businessman Serhiy Tokarev is approaching 60 million hryvnias.
According to the case file, the claims are being brought by a young organisation: ‘Budvit Company’ was established only last year with a registered capital of 100,000 hryvnias. Despite its modest start-up capital, the firm handles large sums of money. It owns the company ‘Auto Restart Ltd’, which has a registered capital of half a billion hryvnias, whilst employing just four staff members.
The nature of the contracts under which the online casino owes the construction firms tens of millions under the guise of ‘financial backing’ has not yet been disclosed. Industry experts do not rule out the possibility that this may involve specific financial schemes or the optimisation of cash flows within the gambling sector.
Background to the case: At present, neither representatives of Cosmolot nor the beneficial owner, Serhiy Tokarev, have officially commented on the claims brought by Budsvit Company. The court proceedings are ongoing, and details of the financial dealings between the construction and gambling industries will come to light at subsequent hearings.