Illegal online casinos in Ukraine: PlayCity CEO calls on the NBU to take action

Illegal online casinos in Ukraine: A call to action

According to Главком: Ukraine is facing a serious problem with illegal online casinos that use various shadow payment systems for their operations. Hennadiy Novikov, the head of the state agency PlayCity, has appealed to the National Bank of Ukraine for proactive measures in combating these schemes. According to him, today only three banks service the gaming industry in the Mastercard payment system and only one in Visa, which creates significant barriers to legal activities in this field.

The estimated share of the illegal segment of the market is approximately 50%, indicating deep problems in the industry. It is noted that last year the state received about 19 billion UAH in revenues from the legal segment of the gaming business, but these figures could have been significantly higher with effective measures against illegal organizations. Hennadiy Novikov emphasizes that the active involvement of the National Bank of Ukraine could help address this issue.

Shadow payment tools and market potential

Among the shadow payment tools used by illegal operators, the following can be highlighted:

• P2P transfers
• substitution of MCC codes
• cryptocurrencies

Hennadiy Novikov notes that two of the three key problems of market de-shadowing lie in the area of banking regulation. He emphasizes that to reduce the share of the illegal market, measures aimed at blocking illegal online resources and narrowing the payment and marketing schemes used by these organizations are necessary.

The i-Gaming market in Ukraine has significant growth potential, forecasting annual revenues from 59 billion UAH to 70-80 billion UAH. However, to realize this potential, efforts from the government and financial institutions for the stable development of legal gaming businesses are required.

The issue of illegal online casinos in Ukraine requires urgent action from regulators, as a high level of market de-shadowing can significantly impact budget revenues. The development of a legal gaming business will not only provide additional financial resources for the state but also contribute to creating a safer environment for users. Further efforts to combat illegal operators could be key to ensuring stability and transparency in this industry.