Tim Alper is a journalist who covers betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats. He joined the CasinoBeats team in May 2025. He reports on breaking news and developments in the world of betting, casinos, and...
Read Full BioThe government of Ukraine claims that its new gambling regulator, PlayCity, is proving effective and has blocked access to more than 2,500 online casinos.
In an official post from the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation, the ministry wrote that in its first six months of operation, PlayCity has also collected over UAH 1.4 billion ($33.2 million) in license fees from permit-holding gambling operators.
The ministry claims that PlayCity has also “launched a large-scale reform” of the Ukrainian gambling industry since its inception on March 21.
Ukraine Gambling Regulator: Working With Social Media Platforms
The ministry said that PlayCity had helped take a “package of important decisions that have significantly updated the rules governing the betting industry.”
It claimed that the regulator has begun “effective cooperation” with the video-sharing platform TikTok, along with Facebook and Instagram operator Meta.
This cooperation now allows PlayCity to order “the prompt removal of accounts and posts” that feature illegal casino advertising. Thus far, PlayCity says that it has successfully taken down “more than 280 social media posts” that featured illegal gambling-related ads.
Major Overhaul Proving Successful
The ministry said that the regulator has also successfully overhauled the gambling licensing process. This has brought “significant additional revenues to the state budget,” it added.
To date, the agency has imposed over UAH 52 million (over $1.2 million) worth of fines on bloggers and media outlet operators for “illegally advertising” gambling platforms.
In October alone, PlayCity stated that it had issued geoblocking orders for over 300 casino sites and fined illegal gambling platform operators UAH 24 million ($569,000).
The regulator states that it is now developing a new national gambling addiction registry. It also hopes to unveil “a modern online monitoring system” that will help it “strengthen control over the market.”
“The regulator’s approach is clearly working,” the ministry said. “In the last quarter of the financial year, 100% of permit-holding gambling companies submitted their reports on time. Discipline in the market is growing. In the previous quarter, one in four operators failed to send their reports before the deadline.”
The ministry concluded that the regulator’s goal is to “create a transparent, safe, and compliant market that protects bettors from the negative effects of gambling.”
In August, PlayCity revealed the launch of a new monitoring tool that it says will help it find and shut down illegal casino sites.
