Ukraine's state agency for gambling issues 10 B2B licenses to gambling software providers and revokes 7 – head
Ukraine's state agency for gambling and lottery regulation, PlayCity, has issued 10 B2B licenses to companies supplying software for the gambling market under updated legislation that took effect on April 1, and has revoked seven others due to a lack of response to agency inquiries, PlayCity head Hennadiy Novikov said.
"During this short period, we have already issued 10 new licenses for service provision (B2B). At the same time, we reviewed another seven companies, including to verify that they have no ties to Russia. These companies simply did not respond to our inquiries, so we revoked their licenses," Novikov said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, PlayCity is deliberately implementing an approach that separates market operations and licensing between the B2C and B2B segments. The agency head added that the first step was the introduction of a B2B license, which can be obtained only by residents, while operators are responsible for using the services of unlicensed counterparties.
"The next stage is oversight and inspections of such companies. In this way, without deviating from our strategic goal of supporting the legal market, we are narrowing the range of products available to illegal operators," Novikov said.
He cited Romania as an example, where B2C operators that interact directly with players are clearly separated from the B2B segment, which itself is divided into three distinct classes, extending even to suppliers of furniture or alcohol for offline casinos.
"This approach is driven by the high risks inherent in the sector, including the possibility of tax optimization and capital outflows. The regulator seeks to see not individual elements, but the entire ecosystem of the market, ensuring transparency across the supply chain, from software to service providers," Novikov explained.
As reported, since February 2025, state policy in the gambling sector has been formed 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.
Currently, across all verticals of the gambling market, there are 34 licensed operators, excluding three lottery companies.
