Against this backdrop, the figure of ₴14.5 billion in revenues from legal operators in 2025 looks like a success — but a success “on thin ice.” Without high-quality regulation, strong institutions, and normal cooperation between the state and the white market, these revenues remain fragile and unstable. A Young Market and “Uneven” Institutions The Ukrainian gambling market is a typical young market with high expectations and uneven institutional performance. State agencies de

The experience of most European countries and the United States convincingly shows that excessive strictness in gambling regulation rarely delivers the expected results. Fighting the shadow market solely by tightening legislation not only fails to reduce it but often does the opposite — it strengthens it. The reason is simple: when the legal market becomes over-regulated, expensive, or inaccessible to players, a portion of the audience inevitably moves to the "grey" or "black

France and Liechtenstein demonstrate two different but effective approaches to regulating the lottery sector — both based on transparent licensing, structured GGR, and no tax pressure on players. In France, lotteries operate under the supervision of the ANJ regulator, and the state operator FDJ has a 25-year concession. The main burden in the system is focused on GGR: about 69% of gross revenue goes to the state, including social contributions. Added to this is an annual paym

The Ukrainian gambling market and related financial services are gradually moving from reactive to preventive control mechanisms. One of the most important innovations in the near future will be the creation of a "drop registry" — a system designed to detect and block funding channels for illegal businesses before an offense occurs. The idea is simple: instead of searching for culprits after violations, the state creates a mechanism that prevents financial abuses from occurri

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the gambling industry — from predicting player behavior to automating marketing, compliance, and even fraud prevention. However, this technology is not a “magic button.” As recent analytical data from MIT Sloan Management Review  shows, only 5% of companies in the entertainment sector record real revenue growth after implementing AI-based pilot projects. The rest either see no financial return or are forced to halt developm

It has been several years since gambling was legalized in Ukraine, yet public pressure on this sector remains strong.Casinos, betting companies, and online gaming platforms operate openly, report their activities, and pay taxes. Meanwhile, lotteries — one of the oldest segments of the market — continue to exist almost outside the law. Licensing conditions for them have still not been approved, which means no taxes are paid, no oversight is in place, and profits remain in the

The European Union is once again demonstrating its ability to set the tone in the field of gambling regulation. The decision of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to create a single standard for harm markers, supported by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), marks a new stage in player protection policy. The initiative, which has been in the works for several years, has now received political and professional approval: on September 25, the majorit

The State Online Monitoring System (SOMS) is one of the most anticipated tools for reforming the gambling market. In September, the State Agency PlayCity announced the signing of an agreement with Computer Information Technologies LLC, the company that won the open tender to create the system. The first phase is scheduled to launch in December, and full functionality should be operational by October 2026. This is not just a technological project. It is the key to trust betwee

It is unlikely that anyone would dispute the widely accepted fact that preventing disease is more effective than treating it. This...

The gambling industry in Europe is developing rapidly, generating billions of euros in revenue, but at the same time, the shadow segment...

The preparation and adoption of new laws, the implementation of which may significantly affect the economic situation in the country,...

Since the beginning of the year, legal gambling has been under constant information attack organized by black market lobbyists. The media...

The legal gambling market means, first of all, high social responsibility of organisers and conscientious compliance with not only all...

For the fourth year in a row, Ukraine has been reviving its legal gambling market. The market that was brazenly destroyed fifteen years...

The situation around the legal gambling market in Ukraine is increasingly reminiscent of the events of early 2009, when the number of...

Throughout the history of gambling business development in Ukraine, lotteries have been singled out by the state as a separate category...

The history of gambling goes back five thousand years, and lotteries as a type of gambling have been known for over two thousand years....

Every time I feel surprised and cannot ignore publications and statements that "the entire potential of gambling in Ukraine has been...

The modern world is gradually moving to an increasingly technological system that affects all areas of our lives, from buying goods and...

The history of gambling addiction cannot be separated from the history of gambling, but only with the legalization of gambling in Ukraine...