Is the State Online Monitoring System about to launch?

The reform of the gambling market in Ukraine initially envisaged the creation of a unified state regulatory automated system designed to ensure transparency in the activities of all legal gambling operators and to provide a clear understanding of cash flow volumes.

The Law of Ukraine “On State Regulation of Activities Related to the Organization and Conduct of Gambling” stipulated that the government must create all necessary conditions for the functioning of the State Online Monitoring System (SOMS). It was planned to launch the system in 2021. Preparatory work in this direction had been carried out: back in December of the same year, the national regulator developed a draft resolution “On Approval of the Requirements for the State Online Monitoring System,” which was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers.

However, the full-scale war that began in February 2022 brought adjustments to these plans, and the approval of the provisions regarding the operation of SOMS was postponed for several years. In particular, due to the outbreak of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 303, which suspended both scheduled and unscheduled state supervision (control) measures for the duration of martial law.

Only on February 20, 2024, did the Procedure for the Operation of the State Online Monitoring System, approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 171 of February 16, 2024, officially come into force. The procedure stipulated that, in order to ensure proper control over the activities of gambling operators, they are required to transmit certain information and data in real time to the State Online Monitoring System (SOMS) via an application programming interface. This data includes:

• every bet placement transaction;

• every bet refund transaction;

• every gambling win (prize) payout transaction;

• every payout transaction;

• every transaction involving the exchange of funds for gaming equivalents of the hryvnia, or vice versa.

  
  

However, there were no funds allocated in the state budget at that time to actually develop the monitoring system, so its implementation was postponed for another year. Notably, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine recently adopted Resolution No. 748 dated June 25, 2025, which defines the mechanism for using funds allocated in the state budget under the program “Creation and Implementation of the State Online Monitoring System and Electronic Registers in the Field of Gambling Organization and Conduct.” The resolution provides for expenditures related to the creation, modernization, and equipping of SOMS and/or its components with software products and/or technical tools necessary for its deployment and operation.

In turn, the new national regulator, PlayCity, has pledged to oversee this process and submit quarterly reports to the government on the use of budget funds and progress toward achieving performance indicators.

It now seems that SOMS may soon be up and running. What positive effects will this bring?

First and foremost — improved transparency, increased regulatory efficiency, and easier detection of illegal operators.Additionally, the implementation of the online monitoring system will help strengthen compliance with requirements for player identification, restrict access for individuals under 21, and block access for those listed in the self-exclusion register. This will also help mitigate gambling addiction risks (ludomania) by enabling the imposition of spending and time limits.

In summary, the launch of SOMS is expected to have a comprehensive impact on Ukraine’s gambling market, contributing to its legalization, greater transparency, and enhanced player protection. All that remains is to wait for the system to officially go live.