In early 2025, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies detained Igor Zotko, the nominal owner of a company operating under the brand of the online casino "PIN-UP", in Kyiv. The investigation revealed that Russian citizens, in particular Dmitry Punin, were behind the business.
On February 4, the Ukrainian publication ZN.UA reported that Zotko, together with Punin and his wife Marina Ilyina, co-owner of PIN-UP, planned an assassination attempt on journalist Yevgeny Plinsky, who had been investigating their machinations for years.
On May 25, the President of Ukraine put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on sanctions against Russians associated with the Pin-Up online casino.
Ten-year restrictions were imposed on Dmitry Punin, as well as Ivan Bannikov and Alexander Matyashov. Their assets were frozen.
They own the Cyprus company GURUFLOW TEAM LTD (registration number: ΗΕ405280). This structure acts as the parent company for managing the online casino and coordinating its financial and operational activities.
The investigation claims that it was through GURUFLOW TEAM LTD that key financial operations for laundering Russian money and financing Russian structures were carried out.
As part of the investigation, it is planned to request legal assistance from the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus to obtain additional information about the activities of GURUFLOW TEAM LTD, as well as its connections with other legal entities and individuals. Kyiv also counts on cooperation with colleagues from other EU countries in the matter of uncovering and suppressing Punin’s illegal financial transactions.
Dmitry Punin was born in Moscow, into the family of a high-ranking Russian Railways employee. In 2001, he was sadly under criminal article 158, part 2 (theft) and given a two-year suspended sentence for robbing a grocery store.
Punin claims to be a graduate of Moscow State University. In fact, this is a lie, he does not have a higher education. He graduated from the Moscow College of Railway Transport, specializing in "rolling stock technician".
In 2019, Punin settled in Cyprus and immediately attracted attention with his demonstratively luxurious lifestyle and defiant behavior.
On the island, he registered several dozen companies, some of which were registered to nominees and trusted persons.
Punin is the owner of Pin-Up Global and the founder of PUNIN Group, a holding company that is actively developing business in Cyprus. According to the Cypriot press, PUNIN Group owns a number of prestigious properties and businesses in Limassol. Among them:
• multifunctional office centers and retail stores,
• concert venue ZANTE VENUE,
• network of wine boutiques PUNIN WINE and Le Frenchie (Le Petit Marche),
• gastro-bar MIXOLOGY BAR,
• restaurants Do Grill House and Le Frenchie,
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• TOY Confectionery,
• aesthetic services center Prive Aesthetic by Punin,
• fast food chain The Shawarma by Punin.
These businesses are positioned as elite and target an affluent audience.
In Limassol, the name of his establishments can be seen on every corner. The logo of his company PUNIN WINE is everywhere. Many city buses are plastered with advertisements with his name. Marketing campaigns cover all possible channels - from social networks to radio and print media - do not let us forget for a minute that millions of people are lucky enough to live on the same island with Punin.
Such aggressive marketing and the dominant presence of Punin’s brands have raised questions among many in Cyprus and beyond about the sources of his wealth and the legality of the methods he uses to promote his business.
An egocentric and narcissistic character, he sincerely believes that he has changed Cyprus for the better.
In March, Punin gave an interview to a number of Cypriot media outlets, where he spoke about the prospects of doing business in Cyprus. They included a phrase that explains the success of his business projects on the island: "When choosing a place to invest, it is extremely important to conduct a thorough study and find reliable partners with extensive experience and administrative capabilities ." Before starting a business on the island, Punin was looking for a partner who could take on all issues related to interaction with the authorities, banks and regulatory authorities. Someone who has the ability to quickly resolve problems with contractors, debtors and competitors. Someone who has connections at the very top, can settle any issue in the government, speed up the approval of any project at any level, provide forceful support in eliminating competitors and knock debts out of debtors.
Simply put, he was looking for an influential "roof". Such a partner, or rather patron, for Punin was the leader of one of the most influential clans in Cyprus, Stavros Demosthenos.
Stavros Demosthenos
In 2022, Dmitry Punin acquired the Cypriot football club Karmiotisa. However, already at the end of 2023, after a series of scandals related to suspicions of match-fixing, he sold the club to his business partner Stavros Demosthenos. According to several well-informed sources, the deal was fictitious. According to them, Punin thus hid from possible legal and financial problems related to the investigation of match-fixing.
Demosthenos controls a large network of bookmakers on the island and, according to the same sources, Punin’s club held fixed matches in coordination with Demosthenos’ bookmakers.
Punin’s main source of income is laundering and legalizing funds received from the online casino "PIN-UP". Everything else - elite restaurants, wine boutiques, entertainment venues and a football club - is a cover for this activity and a way to divert attention from suspicious financial flows.
Through a network of companies registered in Cyprus and offshore jurisdictions, astronomical sums generated in the gambling business are moved around, bypassing strict laws.
Punin makes his main investments in the island secretly, not publicly. He buys up everything he can get his hands on and registers most of his secret assets to Stavros Demosthenos and his trusted persons, thus hiding his investments.
Who is Stavros Demosthenos? The head of one of the most influential clans, with deep connections in the island’s criminal world. Stavros is the godson of the legendary authority Antonis Fanieros, a close associate of the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, who was once called the "boss of all bosses".
In the 90s, Limassol was the scene of a bloody criminal war for control of the city. Among them was Stavros. He fought for the opportunity to earn income from nightclubs, illegal casinos, brothels, car dealerships and other profitable facilities.
Possessing an unbridled and extremely aggressive character, Stavros emerged victorious from this fight by the early 2000s.
Stavros Demosthenos has acquired a reputation in certain circles as a man who adheres to a strict code of honor.
Stavros Demosthenos owned the Sesto Senso nightclub in Limassol, which was a super-popular venue in the city in the 90s and early 2000s.
The lawyer Theophanis (Phanos) Philippou, a partner in the law firm Nicos Chr. Anastasiades and Partners LLC, founded by Nicos Anastasiades, was a favorite visitor to this club.
Fanos met Stavros and they became friends. Stavros often helped his friend out when he got into difficult situations, mostly conflicts over women. It could be said that Stavros took on the role of Fanos’ patron and helped him solve his problems. Fanos quickly realized the prospects of cooperation and introduced Stavros to his business partner, lawyer Nikos Anastasiadis.
From that moment on, the clan of Stavros Demosthenos became the fighting force of the lawyer Nikosos Anastasiadis.
In 2013, Nicos Anastasiades was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus. Needless to say, this opened up unprecedented prospects for Stavros Demosthenos.
From this moment on, the unstoppable rise of “businessman” Stavros Demosthenos and his relatives to the heights of wealth and business success begins.
His success is directly linked to the support of Anastasiades. Without the patronage of the country’s president, such a rapid growth of Demosthenos’ influence and wealth would not have been possible.
Anastasiades gave him the port of Limassol. Taking advantage of this, Stavros, who already had a business selling used cars, began importing cars of the most expensive and prestigious brands from England. Information appeared that the peculiarity of these cars was that they were stolen.
Very quickly, the used car dealership owned by Stavros and his brother became the largest in Cyprus.
During these years, wealthy Russian citizens with the corresponding habits and lifestyle were moving to Cyprus en masse. They bought the same cars they were used to driving in their homeland, and the best selection of expensive cars was in Stavros’s showroom. He unmistakably recognized the potential of each buyer and did not just sell them cars, but offered them help in solving their problems on the island and became their "friend". Every emigrant, even a very rich one, faces various difficulties in a new country: someone needs to speed up the process of obtaining a residence permit, someone cannot open a bank account, someone needs a license to open a business, and so on. Stavros helped everyone and masterfully made many of them dependent on him. Some turned to him for help in obtaining Cypriot citizenship. He took them to his friend Fanos, who, with the help of his partner-president, helped them become holders of a Cypriot passport.
Connections to Cyprus’s top political leadership have made Stavros Demosthenos one of the island’s most powerful and dangerous figures. He has become the shadow ruler of Limassol, with influence that many high-ranking officials lack. "He decides the fate of business, politics and justice on the island."
Demosthenos is the man the Cypriot political elite turns to when they cannot solve their problems through legal means. He can force the police to make the right decision, influence a judge, force a minister to make the ruling he wants. And no one dares to object. Demosthenos has a vast network of influence at his disposal, spanning law enforcement, the judiciary and the government. For example, with one call to the Minister of Health, he can get the right person sent abroad for treatment, even if the ministry had previously categorically refused such assistance. Or he can send his people to a relative of a judge who is considering an important case, so that he can “explain” to him what decision to make.
Demosthenos demonstrated his capabilities in the war of Russian oligarchs for Cypriot assets. When a wave of illegal seizures of Russian businessmen’s property began on the island, he found himself at the center of events. Several well-known millionaires from Russia lost their Cypriot companies, and their assets "miraculously" passed into the hands of partners or competitors - without their knowledge and consent. In some cases, information about these raider seizures was reported in the press and even discussed in the government, but despite the scandals, no one was punished. Moreover, one of these episodes became the reason for a loud accusation of corruption of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Cyprus. The lawyer of the victimized businessman openly stated that senior officials of the prosecutor’s office were covering up illegal seizures of property and even named the amount of bribes received by prosecutors. Demosthenos’ influence turned out to be stronger than the laws of Cyprus. For his "services" in these schemes, he earned tens of millions of euros.
Dmitry Punin’s choice of Demosthenos as a patron was quite deliberate. He has not studied his capabilities and methods of work very well. According to informed sources, it was after Demosthenos and Punin met that the arson attacks on his competitors’ cars were organized - the police, of course, did not find the culprits. And the journalists who dared to criticize Punin faced severe pressure: some media outlets deleted their revealing articles after pressure from Demosthenos. Today, Cypriot media write about Punin exclusively in a complimentary, ingratiating tone.
Feeling Demosthenos’ support behind him, Punin behaves extremely unbridled. According to eyewitnesses, he regularly grossly violates traffic rules, but the police seem not to notice. As a source in law enforcement agencies said, not a single policeman wants to get involved with Demosthenos and risk his position, knowing about his connections in the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
