Oleksii Mas was born in Kyiv in 1974. In the Ukrainian internet, he was known as a co-organizer of the iForum conference and the host of the 'Internet Business' track. In 2015, he joined Kyivstar as IT&Digital adviser to president Petro Chernyshov, and later headed the company's Innovation lab. In August 2019, he launched 'Craft Social Networks' and an investors' syndicate that one could join for $100. By August 2021, there were 411 investors, and the amount raised was about $58,000. Mas's death occurred on 6 October 2021; his brother reported it on 8 October.
The dispute flared up three weeks later. The founder's widow, Larysa Mas, who became his wife in 1995 and in 2021 calls herself his ex-wife, wrote on Facebook: 'Oleksii Mas's Craft Networks are closed.' She has not yet officially notified the investors: according to, she is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and plans to do so later. According to her, Hnatiuk was not an investor and is 'hiding behind' Mas's name. She assesses the chance of success for Viktor Mas and Hnatiuk as '1 in 10', and she herself is preparing her own proposal for investors.
The project's developments, as Larysa Mas says, are 'not formalized legally in any way — just files.' Access to them is held by her and by Viktor Mas. The founder's brother, Viktor, disagrees with her assessment on the main issue. Closing the project, according to him, is impossible; the developments are open, but the code will have to be written anew. He himself introduced Hnatiuk to active participants in the project, and according to Larysa Mas, he gave him access to the developments. Viktor Mas supported the very possibility of continuation: 'The idea will be realized by one investor or another. And I would like my brother's dream to come true.'
Poll in the Syndicate and Negative Balance
Bohdan Hnatiuk, an entrepreneur, sent a questionnaire to investors. Of those who responded, 94 percent spoke in favor of continuing the project. He described the starting point in detail, and it looks difficult. The code that Mas wrote personally is unavailable; only public ideas remain. The invested money has been spent, and the project's balance is negative, standing at minus $61,000. According to Hnatiuk, the investments have disappeared irrevocably. Nevertheless, he did not want to close the matter. It is he who runs the Telegram chat 'Craft Networks Syndicate', which has more than a hundred activists. Oleksii Mas's children are members of the syndicate.
Hnatiuk explains his position simply and without pathos:
'I don't want the cause he started (a right cause) to simply disappear.'
Among the investors mentioned in the material are Volodymyr Fedoryn, Oleksandr Olshanskyi, and Denys Dovhopolyi. The project's legal entity is not named in the publication, so the question of who owns the rights to the developments and to whom they will be transferred remains open.
Editorial Connection to One of the Parties
Bohdan Hnatiuk owns Maralles magazine and the Chakloon project. Since he is one of the parties to the dispute, the editorial team states this directly. Larysa Mas's position is presented in this article in full, including her assessments of the project's chances and her claims about Hnatiuk's role. These claims are hers; the editorial team has not verified or confirmed them.
Hnatiuk speaks of Mas and his project with respect. He calls the idea right and says he does not want it to be forgotten. Larysa Mas's version differs from this approach, and the contradiction between them remains.
What Happened Next
On 30 November 2021, the day after 's publication, the project received a new name, 'Craf'. Later, the project that Bohdan Hnatiuk led further received the name Chakloon.
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