Cosmolot

The country's first licensed online casino: billion-hryvnia claims by the Economic Security Bureau, an opaque owner—and mutual accusations of extortion broadcast worldwide

The operator brand LLC “SpaceX”, which in 2021 was the first to obtain a license after the legalization of the gambling business by the 2020 law. The ownership structure has changed repeatedly: initially — Serhii Potapov from the village of Lysohirka in Zaporizhzhia region; from 2023 alongside him appeared Arnulf Eckehard Neumann-Damerau (a German citizen registered in the UK, former advisor to Glencore and Trafigura), and from October 2024 he became the ultimate beneficiary (49% of “SpaceX”, the remainder owned by an American company). The brand is consistently associated in the public sphere with Russian businessman Serhii Tokarev, native of Moscow.

Claims by the Economic Security Bureau (ESB)

Since April 2024, the ESB has been investigating tax evasion amounting to over 1.1 billion UAH: according to the investigation, the company paid out 4.5 billion UAH in winnings to players, classifying them as deposit returns, thereby not paying personal income tax and military levy; over 30 mirror sites and "miscoding" of payments were involved. Five million transactions were analyzed, and 700 million UAH was frozen. In September 2025, the Shevchenkivskyi Court lifted the freeze—the company compensated for the damages.

Counterattack

Damerau told Financial Times that corrupt officials in law enforcement agencies and the Presidential Office demanded tens of millions of euros and the transfer of half the company to an offshore trust; he calls the claims fabricated. Revenue plummeted: 28 billion UAH (2023) → 1.1 billion (2024) → 42.8 million (2025). In May 2026, the court suspended the license revocation.