Arnulf Damerau, an entrepreneur and one of Ukraine’s largest investors, said that senior Ukrainian officials, including members of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s administration, blackmailed him into millions of euros and threatened to continue persecuting his businesses in the country if he did not. He mentioned this in a conversation with . Finance Times.
“Damerau, a British-German businessman… told the Financial Times that he was being blackmailed by a group of senior Ukrainian officials,” the publication said.
Damerau has been a co-owner of Cosmolot, a major online gambling site and the country’s 10th-largest taxpayer, since August, the newspaper reported. In October 2023, a “raid” was carried out on the Cosmolot office by the Ukrainian Economic Security Bureau. The publication writes that Ukrainian authorities accused the company of violating gambling laws and evading taxes in the amount of 560 million euros.
Damerau claims the allegations against the company are fabricated. He noted that Cosmolot only started operating in 2021 after the Ukrainian government changed its gambling laws.
The publication details the blackmail of Ukrainian officials as follows: “According to Damerau, a Ukrainian citizen met him in Vienna in December and said that the lawsuits against Cosmolot would be dropped if Damerau agreed to transfer control of half of the company to an offshore trust.” .
Before reportedThe poll showed that the majority of Ukrainians trust neither state institutions nor parliament.
Previously in Ukraine started Investigation due to a subpoena issued to a journalist following an investigation into the SBU.