The Ukrainian regulator PlayCity has summarized the first year of reforms in the gambling and lottery market, which has been coordinated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. The iGN editorial team highlights the following key data:
State Budget Revenues for 2025:
Nearly 17 billion UAH ($394 million) โ tax revenues from gambling
Over 1.7 billion UAH ($39 million) โ licensing fees from gambling organizers
Over 72 million UAH ($1.7 million) โ licensing fees from lottery operators
Combating the Illegal Market Over the Year:
80 million UAH ($1.9 million) โ fines for illegal gambling advertising, including 16 bloggers and media outlets
Over 3,500 illegal iGaming sites โ PlayCity achieved their blocking
Over 500 social media accounts โ PlayCity succeeded in removing them for illegal gambling advertising
PlayCity established operational cooperation with Meta, TikTok, Viber, and Google to remove illegal content
PlayCity closed a loophole that allowed masking slot machines as lotteries to avoid licensing fees
Player Protection Measures:
Financial and time limits on gambling
Ban on incentivizing players through bonuses, gifts, alcohol, promotions, cashback, free spins, and other rewards, particularly for losses
The Ministry of Digital Transformation, together with the Ministry of Defense, developed a mechanism to limit military personnel's participation in gambling
Plans for 2026:
Three draft laws with amendments to the Tax Code, the Gambling Law, and the Lottery Law are under public discussion, with the Verkhovna Rada to consider them in 2026
In April, PlayCity will begin testing automated issuance of digital licenses based on specified criteria without human involvement
Before the relaunch of the lottery market in 2025, the state had not received licensing revenues from this segment for over 12 years. PlayCity launched the first phase of the State Online Monitoring System (DOSM) in test mode, with the first operator already connected and others continuing to join.