What are the risks for the bookmaker Betcity of falling under American sanctions Bet City International and its owner Sergei Samsonenko

The US Treasury imposed sanctions against the Macedonian Bet City International and its owner Sergei Samsonenko due to connections with entrepreneur Jordan Kamchev, who was included in the SDN list back in July. Mr. Samsonenko also controls one of the major Russian bookmakers, Betcity, for which sanctions may create problems with accepting bets from abroad. Kommersant’s sources believe that as a result, the company may be fully or partially transferred to the partners of the businessman or his mother, who is already a co-owner of Betcity.

US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against a number of Russian legal entities and individuals. The list, in particular, includes the Macedonian Bet City International and its founder Sergei Samsonenko. The reason was connections with Macedonian businessman Jordan Kamchev (included in the US sanctions list in July).

The OFAC message clarifies that Jordan Kamchev was accused of corruption and money laundering. Sergey Samsonenko, in 2021, made a number of payments in relation to the companies Kamchev Konsalting Skopje DOOEL (Kamchev Konsalting) and Orka Fajnans Skopje DOOEL (Orka Fajnans), and also testified during the trial in the case of Jordan Kamchev on money laundering. In addition, Orka Fajnans Skopje DOOEL is a co-owner of the Macedonian Bet City International, the document specifies.

According to the latest information, Sergei Samsonenko lives in North Macedonia, but it was not possible to contact him.

Mr. Samsonenko is the founder of the bookmaker company “Betcity”, created in 2003 in Rostov-on-Don. Now, according to Kartoteka.ru, Fortuna LLC (Betcity brand) is 99% owned by Betcity LLC and 1% by Mr. Samsonenko’s mother Raisa (1%). Sergey Samsonenko himself remains the owner of 60% of Betcity LLC, 30% belongs to Nimatul Bagavdinov, another 10% is divided between Andrey Kamenev and Leon Tiratsuyan. Revenue of Fortuna LLC for 2022 increased by 25%, to 36.9 billion rubles, while net profit decreased by 13%, to 1.3 billion rubles. Betcity did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

There is no exact information in the public domain about when Sergei Samsonenko started business in Macedonia. In 2017 RBC reported that the revenue of the Macedonian Bet City in 2011 reached €7.2 million, and by 2015 – already €13 million. In 2016, all offline Bet City points in Macedonia were closed due to the tax on gambling activities increased from 20% to 23%.

Sergei Samsonenko was included in the American sanctions list not on the usual Russian grounds (Decree 14024), but on the so-called Western Balkan grounds (Decree 14033 of June 8, 2021), clarifies BGP Litigation partner Sergei Glandin.

This means that all his bank accounts in dollar currency will be blocked, and if he tries to redirect them to another bank, the money will be completely frozen, the lawyer claims.

According to Mr. Glandin, in such a situation, foreign intermediaries and providers will stop working not only with the Macedonian company, but also with the Russian one – including payment services that accept and transmit bets in different countries of the world. Kommersant’s sources in the industry believe that as a result, Mr. Samsonenko’s share in Fortuna LLC or Betcity LLC may be fully or partially transferred to partners or, for example, to Raisa Samsonenko.

Yulia Yurasova