Former racing driver Nikita Mazepin, the son of Belarusian-born billionaire Dmitry Mazepin, could become the owner of Lesta Games, a company that was nationalized by Russia last year. Forbes reports this, citing a source.
According to the source, the deal has not yet been completed but is close to completion. The company could be acquired for 30-35 billion Russian rubles.
Lesta Games was established in 2022. At the time, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, World of Tanks developer Wargaming left Russia and Belarus, transferring the rights to its games and local infrastructure to distributor Lesta and its management. However, in spring 2025, Russia banned the activities of the extremist “association” involving Malik Khatazhaev, who owned Lesta at the time, and Viktar Kisly, the owner of Wargaming. Lesta was later nationalized.
Russia now wants to sell the company. Earlier, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev said the sale was expected to be completed this year. According to him, the deal could be concluded in September-October.