PIN-UP Ukraine has responded to allegations levied against it by state apparatchiks and regulators, with the company accused of supposed ties to the Russian Federation, which invaded Ukraine in a full-scale war in February 2022.
PIN-UP Denies Reputation-Damaging Claims by Ukraine
These accusations, argues PIN-UP in a statement shared with the media, are baseless and not true. PIN-UP Ukraine has been accused by the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Legal proceedings are ongoing, and several brands associated with the company have been added to a list of sanctioned entities without due process, the company said in a statement.
PIN-UP Ukraine argued that it was well-versed in dealing with governments and handling sensitive topics across numerous jurisdictions and had anticipated the imposition of sanctions without due process.
The company said that the way sanctions had been imposed in Ukraine in recent years has focused on applying pressure on businesses without bearing out the evidence necessary to place sanctions in the first place.
PIN-UP Ukraine said that this high-handed approach to imposing sanctions has affected businesses well beyond the gaming sector.
“These practices only undermine trust in Ukraine, its regulatory institutions, and the officials who, on the one hand, encourage investment in a country that urgently needs it to withstand military aggression, and on the other, block companies that are tax leaders and impose sanctions against them,” the company said.
Sanctions Without Due Process Are Coercion, Says PIN-UP
PIN-UP has said that it is looking to fight these accusations and the sanctions imposed against it using every legal means in its arsenal. The company similarly lambasted the decision to impose sanctions on what is seen as a reputation-damaging move.
PlayCity, the recently-launched gambling regulator in Ukraine, which replaced the defunct KRAIL, has revoked PIN-UP’s license over the alleged ties to Russia already.
In another high-profile case, Ukraine targeted another company, Parimatch, which was similarly accused of maintaining ties with Russia, even though the company was firmly embedded in Ukraine and was operating out of Cyprus at the time.