Ukraine’s gambling regulator, PlayCity, announced it was in the process of renewing the lottery market, which was previously operating in grey market conditions without tax...
PlayCity, Ukraine’s New Gambling Regulator, Officially Set Up
The Ministry of Digital Transformation announced that Ukraine’s New Gambling Regulator, PlayCity, is officially set up to oversee and eliminate illegal gambling operations.
PlayCity has replaced the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL), which was dissolved on April 1 after being defined as ineffective in overseeing the country’s gambling sector.
PlayCity is expected to update Ukraine’s gambling oversight through the integration of new technologies, as well as digitize the licensing process for gambling and lottery operators. A key priority is to enforce a national online monitoring system. With this initiative, the government aims to improve responsibility and ensure that operators comply with the country’s gambling regulations.
Currently, the lottery market is unregulated, with the field operating without any licensing requirements. The new agency intends to fix that and put lottery businesses under governmental oversight.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation stated that this initiative is not only essential for legal compliance but also for increasing tax revenue.
Additionally, PlayCity gets the authority to reset and incorporate a national registry of problem gamblers with the Diia.Engine platform – Ukraine’s government services portal. With this, problem gamblers will be able to submit self-exclusion requests directly through the Diia mobile app.
Hennadiy Novikov is now the head of PlayCity. Novikov formerly operated as the deputy head of the secretariat at the Gambling Regulation Commission and had prior experience in public administration.
The launch of PlayCity is a crucial step in transforming Ukraine’s gambling and lottery markets into transparent, compliant, and secure sectors of the national ecosystem.
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