Quasi-monopoly exists in payment services for gambling industry in Ukraine – PlayCity head
Ukraine's legal gambling industry faces significant limitations in payment acceptance instruments, and the issue of this quasi-monopoly can only be resolved with the active involvement of the market regulator – the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), according to Hennadiy Novikov, head of the state agency for the regulation of gambling and lotteries, PlayCity.
"Essentially, a quasi-monopoly has formed. For what reasons this happened. We are still trying to determine. This issue can only be resolved with the active participation of the National Bank of Ukraine, because it is the regulator of the banking sector," Novikov said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, at present only three banks service the gambling business under the Mastercard payment system, and only one under Visa.
The head of PlayCity said that banks are currently not ready to service all licensed operators that have officially been granted the right to operate and have paid the required fees.
"As a result, while banks refuse to service legal operators, the illegal market uses alternative mechanisms. These include P2P payments, substitution of MCC codes, the use of cryptocurrencies, and other schemes," Novikov added.
According to him, there are currently 34 licensed operators active across all segments of the gambling market.
At the same time, the National Bank of Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine that it has not yet received any additional requests from banks expressing a willingness to service the gambling business.
According to market participants, the largest share of the gambling payment services market is currently held by the state-owned Sense Bank.
Among other government bodies that could significantly influence the situation with illegal gambling, the head of PlayCity also singled out the Bureau of Economic Security, particularly in cases involving the illegal organization of gambling activities, regardless of whether they operate online or offline.
"At this time, I am not aware of any completed criminal proceedings in which individuals involved in illegal online casinos, those who actually built these businesses, have been identified and held accountable," Novikov said.
He explained that illegal gambling does not operate on the principle that "someone from abroad decided to operate in Ukraine," because it is a complex system with clearly distributed roles, including individuals and companies that generate traffic through affiliate marketing and advertising tools.
As reported, since February 2025, state policy in the gambling sector has been shaped and coordinated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. On March 21, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to establish a new central executive authority, the PlayCity agency, which officially reports to the Ministry of Digital Transformation and, as of April 1, replaced the former regulator, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.
