Ukrainian economist Borys Kushniruk reacted sharply to the investigation of hromadske.ua, in which journalists found out how the online casino Favbet was able to book its employees from mobilization. In his post titled "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others," Kushniruk called this story a vivid example of how a "privileged minority" is formed in a country at war, living by different rules.
According to the economist, the scheme described in the investigation looks cynically simple: it is enough to make one of the companies of the Favbet group a resident of "Diya.City" , and then - through the Ministry of Economy - obtain the status of "critically important" . This allows you to reserve personnel, even if the company's activities have no relation to the strategic needs of the state.
Kushniruk recalled that back in 2024, the then Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko promised to cancel such orders, admitting that such decisions “divide society .” However, according to the expert, after the decline in media attention, everything returned to normal — and from July 2024 to August 2025, 20 Favbet Tek employees received bookings.
The economist emphasized that back in 2022, he proposed creating a transparent booking system where the criteria of strategic importance would be determined by the government, not individual ministries. According to him, this would avoid corruption risks:
“If a company wants to book people, let it pay contributions: one-time hundreds of thousands of hryvnias and monthly tens of thousands for each booked person. This is more honest than negotiating in offices.”
Kushniruk sarcastically added that Favbet apparently received the status of a critically important structure “in an exclusively honest and transparent way,” and Ms. Svyridenko, who currently heads the government, “probably simply forgot” about her loud statement.
“Favbet is no exception. There are dozens of such companies. It’s just that it’s more public because of its business, while the rest use the same schemes quietly,” the economist concluded.
In conclusion, Kushniruk drew a parallel with George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm", emphasizing that even in a country fighting for freedom, a new privileged class is forming:
"We see a minority ruling, manipulating others for their own benefit. Orwell would have been amazed at how relevant his allegory is today."
