The Prosecutor General of Russia accuses the Russian company Lesta Games, which bought the rights to its online games in the Russian Federation and Belarus from Wargaming, of extremism. They probably want to nationalize the company.
The Prosecutor General of Russia accuses the Russian company Lesta Games, which bought the rights to its online games in the Russian Federation and Belarus from Wargaming, of extremism. They probably want to nationalize the company.
According to Russian media, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, has ordered the arrest of three legal entities belonging to Lesta. It accuses the head of Lesta Games, Malik Khatazhayev, and the founder and head of Wargaming, Viktor Kysly, of creating an «extremist association».
As evidence, Wargaming’s charitable initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine, in particular, the purchase of ambulances for Ukrainian doctors, are cited. Earlier, Russian pro-war bloggers claimed that Russian gamers' money would go to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Earlier, Wargaming CFO Andrew Tinney said that on March 30, 2022, a decision was made that the next day the company would completely leave the Russian and Belarusian markets and actually transfer its studios to other management.
«We started selling Russian Wargaming eight days before Russia began to impose restrictions on sales. As for Belarus, if we had delayed the sales process by 8 hours, we would have been nationalized», — Tinney noted.
Wargaming retained the brand and global rights to the online games World of Tanks, World of Warships, and World of Tanks Blitz. Lesta Games distributes regional versions of these projects in the Russian Federation and Belarus under the names «World of Tanks,» «World of Ships,» and Tanks Blitz.
When Wargaming launched its initiatives to help Ukraine, Lesta Games urged players to be careful and not violate Russian and Belarusian laws. However, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation believes that Wargaming and Lesta still have financial ties; it is demanding that all assets of the Russian company be seized in favor of the state, effectively nationalizing it.
Khatazhaev denies the charges of extremism and claims to be a Russian patriot. In his versions of the games, Lesta has repeatedly held events in support of the Russian vision of World War II.
The Russian game developer believes that the accusations of the Russian Prosecutor General are just a formality to seize «a tasty and at the same time vulnerable asset that is not protected by international law.» It is noted that in the event of nationalization, Lesta’s assets could be transferred to the VK holding company.
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