The son of Uralchem’s main shareholder may buy the company that publishes World of Tanks, headed by the son of VGTRK’s CEO

The son of Uralchem’s main shareholder may buy the company that publishes World of Tanks, headed by the son of VGTRK’s CEO

Forbes sources reported that former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin, the son of Dmitry Mazepin, may become the new owner of Lesta Games, Russia’s largest gaming company, which the authorities seized from its previous owners.

“He got involved in this story among the first, back in the autumn of last year,” one of them said.

According to him, the deal has not yet been completed but is close to it. Forbes sources valued the company at 30-35 billion rubles.

Mazepin’s representative confirmed that UKM Group, which he heads, “is carrying out a number of deals in digital technology, fintech, and AI.”

🔵In June 2025, a Moscow court, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, declared Malik Khatazhayev, the owner of Lesta Games, and Viktor Kisly, the founder of Wargaming, an “extremist association” and banned their activities in Russia. The agency’s claims, as TASS wrote, were linked to the company’s Hong Kong offshore entity, from which funds were transferred for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

🔵By the end of July, former VK CEO Boris Dobrodeev, the son of VGTRK CEO Oleg Dobrodeev, had been appointed head of the company.

🔵Nikita Mazepin raced in Formula 1 for the Haas team in the 2021 season. He did not score a single point. His contract with the team was also set to cover 2022, but it was terminated after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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