Bwin’s Russian-licensed sports betting site never had a chance at success, according to the operator’s former CEO.

Former Bwin.ru CEO Dmitry Sergeyev recently posted a post-mortem of his time with the site on his personal Telegram channel, spurred by Facebook’s reminder that it’s been three years since Bwin’s parent GVC Holdings announced its joint venture with Russian-licensed bookmaker Digital Betting LLC.

Sergeyev (pictured), who joined betting operator Parimatch last year and last month was named CEO of that company’s Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) division, noted that Bwin.ru got off to a rocky start, having to delay the site’s launch until November 2017.

Sergeyev said the delay was partly due to GVC being distracted by its ongoing integration of the Bwin.party brands and Sergeyev had “serious fears” that GVC was getting cold feet about entering the Russian market. Sergeyev claimed his June 2017 press conference announcing Bwin.ru was intended to ensure that GVC “wouldn’t change their minds.”