New oligarch or Kurchenko 2. Who is Maxim Krippa and where does his wealth come from?
Initially, he paid Vadym Stolar up to 100 million dollars for the capital's business center "Paryus", and as part of the privatization, he became the owner of the hotel "Ukraine" in Independence Square for 70 million dollars. "Such assets are not acquired by random people," one of the former ministers told the EP journalist.
Over several years, the assets of the non-public businessman expanded to include the esports team NAVI, the game developer S.T.A.L.K.E.R, the "Dnipro" hotel in Kyiv, a recreation base in Koncha-Zaspa, and even a yacht parking area on the Dnipro River.
In preparing this article about Krippa, EP identified two likely sources of his wealth: either he earned hundreds of millions of dollars from online casino activities, or he acts as a nominal buyer of assets for influential individuals.
It All Started with Media
In the summer of 2023, a new media group Media Council emerged in Ukraine. The owner of the online publication "Glavcom" and the media holding "Economics+", which includes publications like Delo.ua, TOP-100, Wo.mo, and Marketing Media Review, is Tetiana Snopko.
She worked for over eight years as a communications specialist for businessman Maxim Poliakov and his company Noosphere Ventures Partners, and also consulted his business partner Maxim Krippa on information policy issues.
The publication Forbes noted that as early as 2022, journalist colleagues were searching for a job for Snopko in the Czech Republic, and just a year later, she became the owner of major publications. At that time, EP sources in the media market mentioned that the acquisition deals for news websites were actually orchestrated by entrepreneur Krippa, with Snopko allegedly acting only as a nominal owner of the assets.
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Snopko did not respond to EP's request for a comment. In response to inquiries from other media, she denied Krippa's involvement in the acquisition of the mentioned media assets. After the ownership change, Delo.ua and "Glavcom" began to publish advertising news about NAVI, Krippa, and his MK Foundation. On her personal pages on Facebook and Twitter, Snopko actively likes and reposts NAVI and MK Foundation posts.
As EP learned, after acquiring "Glavcom" and "Economics+", Krippa negotiated the purchase of the publications Mind and Liga.net, but these talks were unsuccessful. EP attempted to contact Krippa through several Ukrainian numbers available to the editorial office, but in all cases, the subscriber was "not in the network." None of the numbers are registered on any messaging platforms.
The press service of Krippa stated that the entrepreneur does not speak to the press personally. In written responses to EP's questions, he claimed he has no relation to the mentioned media and does not plan to purchase them in the future. "I do not intend to acquire any media or invest in them in the near future. This is outside my investment interests," the response stated.
The First Rays of Fame
In July 2022, Krippa became known to the public due to his acquisition of the esports club Natus Vincere (NAVI), the world champion. The transfer of rights for NAVI took four years – from 2018 to 2022.
The founder and owner of NAVI was previously Oleksandr Kokanovskyi, whose company "Smartland" won an auction in 2020 to purchase the "Dnipro" hotel in the center of Kyiv, paying the state 1.1 billion UAH. The "Smartland" LLC is registered in a building owned by Krippa.
In 2015, Krippa ran for the Kyiv City Council from "Self-Reliance." As part of his election campaign, he published a complimentary interview in the Gazeta.ua publication, which revealed several biographical facts about him.
"A Kyivite for three generations. A human rights activist and entrepreneur creating intellectual products… Always apolitical, Maxim Krippa unexpectedly embraced the principles of the new political force, the "Self-Reliance" association, and at some point felt ready to take responsibility for the lives of Kyiv residents," the interview abstract stated. It also claimed that Krippa has three higher education degrees and by 2015 had created at least 2,000 jobs.
On the official website of "Self-Reliance," one of the few public photographs of Krippa and part of his biography were published. "Founder of many companies operating in the fields of agribusiness, real estate, mobile communications, IT, and computer technologies," the publication stated. Over time, the interview and biography were removed from the websites, but they have been preserved in the archive.
In 2022, Krippa acquired LLC "SLV-P," whose main asset is a yacht parking area on the banks of the Dnipro, visible from the Southern Bridge and the observation deck of the Grishko Botanical Garden.
In January 2023, the Deposit Guarantee Fund sold a restaurant and the buildings of a recreation base in Koncha-Zaspa near Kyiv for 311.11 million UAH to Krippa's company "Midal." Three land plots totaling over one hectare were sold along with them.
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The largest real estate purchase for the entrepreneur was the acquisition of the business center "Paryus" in November 2023 from people's deputy Vadym Stolar of the OPZZh party. According to Forbes, the deal could amount to 80-100 million dollars.
In September 2024, Krippa's company won an auction by the State Property Fund for the privatization of the "Ukraine" hotel, offering 2.5 billion UAH. An additional 500 million UAH was paid to the state as value-added tax.
Krippa has served three times as an assistant to people's deputies on a voluntary basis: to Ivan Bokyi from the Socialist Party in 2006-2007, and to Valerii Babenkov and Ruslan Lukyanchuk (both from the BYuT) in 2007-2012. The latter two, according to UP sources, were part of the influence group of Oleksandr Turchynov.
Volcanologist
Krippa resides in the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa. At least, when registering new legal entities, according to YouControl data, he indicates premises in this skyscraper in Dubai. At 26 years old, which means since 2003, Krippa began his business career in Kyiv. His company "UMTS" specialized in wholesale trade. In 2006, he founded three companies in Brovary that were involved in the restaurant business.