From gambling establishments to a medical institution: the history of the creation of the Odrex private clinic in Odessa.

Just yesterday, these individuals were profiting from gambling and gambling, and today they are leading private medicine. The Odrex clinic has evolved from a casino to a hospital, keeping no only the name, but also business strategies. Against the background of fatal cases of patients, criminal investigations and complaints of relatives, the question arises: is such experience appropriate in an industry where the price of miscalculation is human life?

Behind the exterior of the Odrex private medical facility hides a business with a gambling past, a complicated ownership structure and criminal cases involved. About how money from slot machines was transformed into a medical business and who actually manages the clinic – find out in the article UNN.

The history of Odrex is not just a change of the sign on the facade from “spin the drum – win millions” to “Ultrasound of the rectum minus 40% of the cost.” This is a story about how people, who for years earned money from their passion for gaming and gambling, at one point found themselves in the role of those who provide medical care to Ukrainians. The situation has changed, the market has changed – but the business model and the approach to making a profit have not changed.

Against the background of the death of patients, criminal investigations and statements of relatives, who talk about material pressure and low-quality treatment in the clinic, the question becomes more and more urgent: should people with such a past even work in a field where the price of a mistake is human life?

From slot machines to a medical license The evolution of the Odrex brand, which today presents itself as a progressive private clinic, did not begin with medicine at all. As reported UNNsince the end of the 1990s, a company operating in Odesa under the brand name “Odreks” engaged in the repair, and then the manufacture, of slot machines. The company was registered at the address on Rozkydaylivska street – exactly where the companies through which the Odrex clinic operates are still officially “registered”.

Tigran Harutyunyan, Leonid Kuchuk and Iryna Zaikova were among the co-owners of the business that manufactured gaming machines. In the “zero” years, the enterprise reached industrial volumes: according to the UNN investigation, it produced up to several thousand automatic machines per year, produced roulettes and gaming tables, and exported part of its products abroad.

In 2001, Harutyunyan and Kuchuk went further and founded the company “Nevada”, which managed its own gambling halls. The company was registered at the same address as Odrex, and later it was transferred to an offshore company. Thus, the production of slot machines and the network of gambling halls actually developed in one business chain.

The breakthrough in the gambling business came in 2009 – after the tragedy in the Dnipro, the state actually banned gambling machines and halls. Then businessmen began to regroup assets. First, the insurance company “Odreks” appeared, and already in 2012 – a medical institution with the same name, which received an indefinite license from the Ministry of Health, which is still valid. Read more about the gaming roots of the brand and the first business steps of the owners in the first part of the investigation UNN.

A gaming impression that has not disappeared anywhere Despite the public medical wrap, the business biographies of the clinic’s co-owners still show a clear gambling “trace”. As UNN’s investigation showed, Iryna Zaikova and Larisa Mysotska have significant shares in the Ukrainian Association of Gambling Business Figures, whose founders include the company “Odrex” in the form of an LLC.

In addition to the fact that Zaykova has registered trademarks “Odreks”, under which gambling services were previously provided, she is also listed as the inventor of useful models and technical solutions for taking bets and providing bookmaking services.

Moreover, some companies related to the co-owners of the clinic were also involved in criminal cases – in particular, regarding money laundering and participation in conversion schemes.

Medical ethics and business model issues Facts collected as part of the investigation UNNindicate that the brand, which today is positioned as a modern medical institution, has its origins in the gaming industry. The scope and signage have changed, but the people and business strategies behind the project have remained the same.

Given the problem revealed by the blood trail behind the Odrex clinic, the question arises, should Ukraine’s private medical industry be examined more carefully? After all, the “Odrex case” may not be a problem of dozens of fatal cases of patients, but a characteristic of the entire industry.

In the conditions of a full-scale war, when Ukrainians die every day at the front, society expects that medicine in the rear will be a place of salvation, not additional dangers. That is why any signals about possible system failures, financial pressure on patients or low-quality treatment should become the subject of immediate attention of the state. The final assessment of these facts should be given by official inspections of the Ministry of Health and the decisions of the relevant authorities.