The Ukrainian gambling regulator, PlayCity, has suspended one of the country’s three operators just a couple of months after the new licensing model was approved.
According to local media, PrJSC Patriot’s licence has been revoked after a probe carried out by the State Bureau of Investigation found evidence the firm did not meet legal requirements.
Ukraine has been in the process of overhauling its lottery and gaming regulations for some time. The overhaul dates back to 2015 when allegations of Russian-linked money laundering surfaced.
The government ultimately suspended the lottery market, initiating a review of gambling regulations. This review continued into 2025 amidst the Russian invasion of the country, and led to the former regulator, the KRAIL, being replaced by PlayCity.
Regarding lotteries, the regulator decided earlier this year that three firms would be granted lottery licences under the new system. The application window for lottery licence holders closed back in January.
Alongside Patriot, the Ukrainian National Lottery and LLC MSL were the other two firms to receive approval for lottery licences. The licences are, or were in Patriot’s case, valid for three years.
A PlayCity statement issued at the time of the licence approvals: “For over a decade, this sector of the economy operated virtually without licences and effective state regulation. Now, operators’ activities are regulated within the framework of new licensing conditions.”
The licence revocation deals a blow not only to PlayCity but also to the image of the wider Ukrainian lottery and gaming industry, which has been attempting to modernise and eradicate cases of serious non-compliance and corruption.
It also deals a blow to state finances. The Ukrainian government had placed a gambling and lottery regulatory revamp as a key priority to ensure the payment of taxes and licence fees amid the costly war with Russia.
Each licence cost €24.2m, with the trio paying €72m between them. This was all directed towards the state budget.