The gambling business was prohibited for a long time in Ukraine. In fact it never fully ceased to exist, however chose to go into shadows. President Volodymyr Zelensky made a progress in bringing the gambling out of shadow thus enabling its effective taxation. It does not come easy as some of the key figures in the reform are of doubtful if not criminal origins. Boris Baum, one of the main architect of the reforms has some weight in the Russian underworld as well as conflict of interests, “La mafia rusa” notes.

Boris Baum, a resident of Latvia is the mastermind of the reform of the gambling market in Ukraine. At the same time, he is the husband and father of the child of Karina Sirotkina, who is the co-owner of the largest gambling establishment in Latvia “Studio 69”.

In 2020, Jurmala resident Boris Baum (Boriss Baums) became a citizen of Ukraine. This happened by a special decree of President Vladimir Zelensky. Today, he is the first deputy head of the Advisory and Expert Council of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.

“You know, I do not give up my role as the locomotive and initiator, the engine of this whole reform. I’m really very proud of it!”, – said Boris Baum in an interview given to Liga.net.

The annual volume of the Ukrainian gambling market is evaluated at $20 billion.

Boris Baum is mentioned at the portal of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Offshoreleaks.icij.org.

In turn, the author of the Ukrainian edition of “Our Money” Yuri Nikolov writes: “Unofficially around Baum has already emerged the halo of the main “fixers”, which in the name of Kolomoisky allegedly opens any doors in the Office of the President.” In addition, the journalist points out that Baum was previously known as a representative of the Luzhnikovskaya criminal group.

According to the data from Crediweb.lv, in Latvia, Boris Baum owns a limited liability company “RTVi Global Media” – not to be confused with RTVi. The company does not conduct business activities. In 2019, the State Revenue Service revoked her VAT payer’s certificate thus effectively dissolving the company.

Interestingly, Baum’s company was registered in 2007 and before becoming RTVi GLOBAL MEDIA, it was first ECOTECH BALTIC and then NORDUS GAUJA.

But, as the blog “La mafia rusa” writes, in Latvia, Boris Baum became famous not as a businessman, but as a participant in a love affair with Karina Sirotkina.

According to the information Сrediweb.lv, Karina Sirotkina and her father Nikolai Sirotkin (Nikolajs Sirotkins) are co-owners of the limited liability company “NIKS” with the authorized capital of 1,435,089 euros.

Karina Sirotkina owns a little more than 60 percent of the capital. But her father is the only member of the board.

In turn,”NIKS” (85.79%) and personally Nikolay Sirotkin own the company “TĒRBATAS SĒTA” with the authorized capital of 7,779,500 euros.

In 2019, Kapitāls magazine published the Top 10 of the richest Latvian businessmen under the age of 30, in which Karina Sirotkina took the 4th place.

Nikolai Sirotkin is known as a co-owner of casinos, bars and nightclubs – including La Rocca and Studio 69. In the 90s, his hockey team “NIKS-BRIH” thundered. Many people deciphered the name as Nikolai Sirotkin – Ivan Kharitonov’s Brigade.

At that time, Ivan Kharitonov’s group was rightfully considered the largest in Latvia and was in close contact with Russia.

A few months ago, Boris Baum and Karina Sirotkina had welcomed a son. Photos of which the young mother willingly shares on Instagram.

The blog “La mafia rusa” hints at a conflict of interest in the civil marriage of an official responsible for gambling with the co-owner of the largest casino in Latvia.