The Ukrainian gaming regulator has pulled the plug on the betting firm Patriot’s lottery operating licence.
The regulator, PlayCity, said it was acting after receiving information about Patriot’s operator from the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation.
On its Telegram channel, PlayCity wrote: “When granting licenses to lottery operators and gambling organizers, we always involve the law enforcement agencies.”
After a “comprehensive check” of the company and its connections, the bureau and the regulator agreed that Patriot was “non-compliant with legislative requirements.”
The ruling is a major blow to Patriot, which obtained its operating permit only in late January this year.
PlayCity originally granted lottery operating permits to just three firms, namely the aforementioned Patriot, MSL, and the Ukrainian National Lottery.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Digital Transformation said all three lottery operators had successfully paid the government the mandatory 24.2 million hryvnia ($554,000) licensing fee, the Ukrainian media outlet Interfax-Ukraine reported.
Ukrainian Regulator: Lottery Operator Failed Compliance Check
“The modern Ukrainian lottery market prioritizes security for the state and citizens, as well as the transparency and accountability of businesses,” PlayCity wrote. “We will continue to create honest and understandable rules of operation, whereby only honest operators will operate.”
The regulator did not provide any further explanation of its decision, but Patriot retains the right to challenge it in court.
Patriot began offering gambling products in the Ukrainian market in 1997. The company is owned by the British company Andalidi Invest, the Ukrainian media outlet Liga reported.
Its “ultimate owner and beneficiary” is Andriy Matyukha, Liga wrote.
The outlet noted that between 2015 and 2018, the National Security and Defense Council placed Patriot under sanctions.
Lawmaker’s Accusations
Lawmaker Danylo Hetmantsev, a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s tax committee, has repeatedly claimed that Matyukha has Russian citizenship. The latter has denied these claims.
In a post on his Facebook page last year, Hetmantsev called Matyukha “a swindler with a Russian passport.”
The Ukrainian gambling sector has been in the spotlight in recent months, amid calls from some lawmakers to ban online casino use for members of the armed forces.
Ukrainian casino industry officials this month dismissed claims from critics who say gambling is rife in the country’s military.
Gambling industry officials said that military personnel “gamble no more than the average Ukrainian.”
They said gambling addiction was not widespread in the military, “or unique to any group, including military personnel.”
Late last year, PlayCity said it had blocked residents’ access to over 2,500 illegal online casinos.
