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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Maksym Sihalov, aka “Narkomaks,” is trying to scale his illegal business together with the owner of Russia’s Pin-Up, Punin, and an EU MP Prymakov.
The owner of Diamond Pay, Maksym Sihalov, known in narrow circles as “Narkomaks,” met on the French Riviera with the owner of the Russian casino Pin-Up, Dmytro Punin, and Dnipro MP Kamil Prymakov, who is nicknamed the “Gel MP.” During a party at the French restaurant La Guerite, the “businessmen” discussed how to expand influence over illegal gambling in Ukraine and how to restore Sihalov’s schemes for laundering money from gambling.
After law enforcement opened an investigation into Diamond Pay, Maksym Sihalov fled abroad, but this has not stopped him from continuing the business and seeking new partners—specifically the Russian, sanctioned Dmytro Punin.
In the video, Punin, Sihalov, and Prymakov are chatting amicably at the same banquet table, the cost of which reaches 20 thousand euros. For example, Monroe Beluga caviar costs 1600 euros for 100 g, and a bottle of champagne ranges from 500 to 1500 euros.
According to our sources, this meeting concerned scaling the operations of Russian online casinos in Ukraine and Sihalov’s business. It involved concealing financial transactions using p2p payments. This is the scheme he uses to service illegal online gambling in Ukraine and Russia. The estimated volume of such deals over just 2 years reached 238 billion UAH.
Sihalov’s companies and his partner Rasim Tagiyev also help launder funds from illegal casinos. Moreover, the head of Diamond Pay—Russian citizen Irakli Djikia—previously filed applications to register trademarks related to controversial gambling brands that did not leave Russia. But Sihalov’s ties to Moscow are not limited to business and partners—his brother, the owner of the Inbet casino, lives there.
Overall, in recent years at least 275 billion UAH has passed through the infrastructure of Sihalov and Tagiyev, most of which is linked to illegal Russian casinos.
Specifically, according to the Bureau of Economic Security, LLC E-Pay, which also belongs to him, understated income by 21,8 billion UAH over just 2 years, resulting in unpaid profit tax of 3,9 billion UAH. Another more than 1 billion UAH passed through Diamond Pay. Investigators consider Sihalov the organizer of these unlawful schemes.
The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv imposed an arrest on his property in criminal proceeding No. 72022000400000003 under part 3 of Art. 212 (evasion of tax payment on an especially large scale), part 2 of Art. 203-2 (illegal organization of gambling), part 2 of Art. 229 (illegal use of trademarks), and part 1 of Art. 209 (legalization of property obtained by criminal means) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
However, Sihalov himself managed to avoid punishment. He currently lives with his family in Marbella, Spain. His luxury car, a Rolls-Royce Spectre 2025 year, has been spotted there more than once. Sihalov also owns a Range Rover, and his wife uses a Mercedes Brabus worth $450 thousand. Unlike “Narkomaks,” his main partner Rasim Tagiyev has no legal entities but owns a significant amount of real estate in the capital—at least three apartments in Kyiv.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Максим Сігалов, він же «Наркомакс», намагається масштабувати свій нелегальний бізнес разом із власником російського Pin-Up Пуніним та депутатом від ЄС...". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
