New stages of the SOMS are the key to transparent market monitoring

Following the emergence of the new gambling market regulator PlayCity, a number of steps were taken toward legalizing lottery operations, improving the system for issuing and revoking licenses, and combating illegal operators. Certain measures were also implemented regarding the introduction of the State Online Monitoring System, which is intended to become the foundation for transparency and accountability in transactions with players. The government is now ready to move further on this issue and is proposing a non-trivial mechanism to finance the second phase of the SOMS.

Alongside the completion of tax reform, the full implementation of the State Online Monitoring System is one of the cornerstones for finalizing the reform of Ukraine’s gambling market. This will make it more transparent and accountable to the state and, consequently, more attractive to foreign investors. This is precisely the crucial part of the “transparent rules of the game” that have been emphasized since the very beginning of gambling legalization in Ukraine.

Last year, the state agency “PlayCity” signed a contract with LLC “Computer Information Technologies,” which won an open tender for the development of the State Online Monitoring System. Despite прокуратура reviews and discussions about delays, the course remains unchanged: the SOMS is already operating in test mode, recording bets and payouts in real time, and laying the groundwork for clear and transparent monitoring of legal online gambling. As early as January this year, the government adopted a resolution appointing the state enterprise “Diia” as the technical administrator of the SOMS, marking the final step before putting the system into full-scale operation.

More recently, news emerged that the government decided to move the second-phase development project of the SOMS to the DREAM platform. This platform is a public investment management system. Its key advantage is a high level of transparency, allowing the public to monitor how funds are raised, from which sources, and, most importantly, how and for what they are used.

It is also worth noting that, according to IT specialists’ estimates, the development of the second phase will cost 45 million hryvnias, which is almost twice as much as the first phase, which cost 25.9 million. That is why financing this project through a transparent platform increases public and expert trust and demonstrates that the market is becoming more open not only at the level of gambling operators but also at the regulatory level.

In the second phase of the system, it is planned to add tracking of game results, control over slot machine operations, compliance with responsible gambling principles, and accounting for transactions involving gaming substitutes of the hryvnia. Its full implementation is scheduled for October 2026. In other words, the regulator is moving in line with the plan presented in October last year, according to which one year was allocated for the full deployment of the SOMS.

Connecting the second phase is not an “option” but a critically important investment in the transparency of a market that already generates hundreds of millions of euros in annual revenue. The DREAM-based format means that every hryvnia invested in the SOMS will be under public oversight, just like every bet in the system: the state gains a complete picture of turnover, society gains trust in the rules of the game, and honest businesses gain a level playing field.