“PlayCity instead of KRAIL: Ukraine changes the rules of gambling business control
21 March 16:18
On March 21, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to establish a new central executive body – the State Agency of Ukraine “PlayCity”. The move was a response to numerous complaints and criticisms against the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL), which was previously responsible for the sector but suffered a serious reputational blow, Komersant ukrainskyi reports, citing Taras Melnychuk, the government’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada.
Reasons for the liquidation of KRAIL
In December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted to liquidate KRAIL. The main reasons were accusations of corruption, inefficiency, political bias, and, worst of all, suspicions of cooperation with operators linked to Russian business. Law enforcement reports mentioned cases of issuing licenses to companies that acted in the interests of Russian online casinos, which became a critical factor amid the war with Russia.
The purpose of the PlayCity agency
The newly created agency is to exercise full control over the gambling and lottery sector in Ukraine. The main tasks are to ensure transparency, fairness, efficiency, and digitalization of the regulatory process. This includes automating the issuance of licenses, creating an open register of operators, and introducing mechanisms that will allow the state to receive real tax revenues from the market.
Organizational structure
The Agency will be accountable to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and will be coordinated through the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. This indicates that PlayCity is planned to be built as a digital, technological body with high standards of transparency and accountability. In 2025, the agency will operate within the funding provided for the liquidated KRAIL, and the staff will include 61 employees, which may indicate an attempt to create a compact, efficient team.
Expected changes in the market
The launch of PlayCity is part of the government’s broader strategy to de-shadow the gambling business. It is expected that the new structure will allow for better detection and blocking of illegal operators, introduction of strict control over compliance with market rules, and increased tax discipline. It is also important that the agency’s digital mechanisms should ensure full traceability of financial flows, which will become a barrier to corruption and abuse.
The main tasks of the new institution will be:
- regulation of the gambling market;
- supervision of compliance with the law by operators;
- introduction of modern digital tools to control the turnover of funds;
- establishing transparent rules of the market;
- protection of players’ rights and prevention of gambling addiction.
It is expected that the agency will have more autonomy in personnel decisions, have a transparent mechanism for forming the management and will closely cooperate with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Tax Service.
Risks and challenges
Despite the ambitious plans, challenges remain. These include resistance from old market players who are used to operating in the shadows, as well as the risk of political pressure on the new structure. It is important that PlayCity remains independent in its decision-making and acts exclusively in the interests of the state and society.
The Cabinet of Ministers hopes that the reboot of regulation will help to
- increase budget revenues (according to various estimates, up to UAH 10-15 billion per year)
- ensure fair and equal rules for all market players
- increase the responsibility of operators for violations;
- reduce the influence of the shadow sector, especially in the online segment;
- introduce more effective tools to combat ludomania (gambling addiction), including the creation of a register of persons who have limited access to gambling services.
If the government succeeds in implementing the announced reforms, it will be a step forward in the fight against shadow schemes, improve the investment climate in the industry, and turn gambling from a source of corruption into a source of budget revenues.
Public reaction to the creation of a new institution
MP Oleksiy Honcharenko was skeptical about the new initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers.
“First, they came up with KRAIL, whose head was caught with coke. Then they liquidated it and created PlayCity. Reforms are like that. Let’s see,” the MP wrote on his Telegram channel.
He also revealed some details about the newly created agency. It turned out that in 2025, PlayCity will be funded within the budget of the liquidated CRAIL. The agency will employ 61 people. It will be located in the same place as KRAIL.
