SBC News

Gambling licences in Ukraine have been informed that their transactions will be recorded by a new ‘State Online Monitoring System’.

The measure was confirmed via a Telegram message issued on Sunday 31 August by the Cabinet of Ministers, governing Ukraine under conflict from Russia.

The Cabinet announced that it had approved a resolution on state registries, enabling all gambling transactions to be track and traced through the monitoring system.

The Online Monitoring System will support PlayCity—the newly established regulatory authority for Ukrainian gambling by enabling real-time tracking of bets, returns, and winnings.

The platform seeks to improve transparency by facilitating the “live verification of operator data to ensure regulatory compliance”, while also allowing PlayCity to publish market volume data providing accurate data for enforcements and policy making.

Integration with the monitoring system will apply to both land-based and online operators, including casinos, arcades, bookmakers, and online poker rooms. A public tender for the platform’s development is expected to be announced shortly, as Kyiv presses ahead with regulatory reforms despite the ongoing war.

PlayCity to bring structural reform
The implementation of the monitoring system forms part of a broader overhaul of Ukraine’s gambling sector, which saw the cabinet dissolve the former regulator, KRAIL – with the agency embroiled in multiple corruption scandals, including allegations of money laundering and ties to Russian operatives.

In its place, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy authorised a new regulator, PlayCity, which officially began operations on 1 April with a mandate to implement state policy across gambling and lotteries, deemed as high risk sectors under conflict.

On 8 April, the Cabinet appointed Hennadiy Novikov as head of PlayCity. Novikov, who previously served as both a member and deputy head of KRAIL, has long-standing ties to the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

PlayCity operates under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and has been tasked with ensuring transparency, protecting consumers, and restoring public trust in the gambling industry.

Licences demand urgent clarity
Ukraine’s government is preparing a slate of legislative changes aimed at tightening control over the sector, including a blanket ban on gambling advertising, a new register for B2B licences, and centralised powers for PlayCity to block illegal gambling websites.

These reforms come amid growing concerns about excessive gambling, with the National Bank warning that Ukrainian citizens are spending nearly UAH 400m (around €8m) daily on online platforms.

Amid the wider regulatory overhaul, Ukrainian gambling operators, many of whom have been sidelined by the conflict, are calling on the government to provide clear, enforceable, and transparent rules due disputed charges placed by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

With former operators facing licence suspensions, account freezes, and blacklisting abroad, stakeholders are urging policymakers to resolve lingering legal ambiguities and establish a stable, fair regulatory framework capable of supporting the sector’s long-term recovery.

The Dutch government is releasing €21m of additional funding for the research and treatment of problem gambling.

With the last substantial funding round taking place in 2023, the ZonMw Prevention of Gambling Addiction research programme will enter its next stage of development. Grants towards the programme are managed by the Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

The details around the latest funding were cleared after a meeting between KSA President Michel Groothuizen and ZonMw Director, Véronique Timmerhuis.

Groothuizen said: “The protection of players is an important priority for the KSA. By continuing this program further, we are joining forces to gather more necessary knowledge on this subject, so that we avoid gambling damage as much as possible.”

Running from 2025 to 2030, the programme will tie in research, prevention and treatment efforts into the correlation between gambling harm, its triggers and consequences like financial and health issues.

Work will span across five distinctive projects: vulnerability and player behaviour, early detection, treatment, experimental participation, and the further development of overarching support infrastructure.

The first results will be published within a year, with ZonMw leveraging its digital communication channels to raise awareness about the programme.

Timmerhuis added: ‘It is good that this program aimed at gambling addiction will be continued. A lot of knowledge development is still needed to achieve effective approaches, and to ensure that those approaches are properly put into practice.

“ZonMw can also contribute expertise from other mental health domains and thus play a good connecting role. Step by step we are working on knowledge to better help people with addictions in the future.”

Governing Dutch gambling, Michel Groothuizen has underlined the importance of customer care and one-to-one interactions to ensure intervention with vulnerable and at-risk customers, as a principal duty of operators reporting to the KSA.
Speaking at this year’s Gaming in Holland event, Arjan Blok, CEO of the Nederlandse Loterij, estimated that as much as 25% of the Dutch player share is owned by black market operators.
However, the much needed reforms to expand the scope of player protection in the country are currently being put on ice, with Teun Struycken, the Minister responsible for gambling oversight, handing over his resignation earlier this week.

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Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, has warned authorities of its concerns on the gambling expenditure of “young Danish men”.

Louise Aggerstrøm, Chief Financial Analyst at Danske Bank, revealed that men between the ages of 18 and 24 are predominantly spending the most of their monthly disposable income on gambling.

Concerns were relayed in an interview with Danmarks Radio (DR), with Aggerstrøm stating that on average, men in that age group set aside around 800 Danish kroner (£93) for the pastime activity – or “about double what they spent on gambling in 2019”.

Statistically, this is 20 times more than what women in the same age bracket spend each month, which is around 40 kroner as per data from Danske Bank.

However, it is also important to note that the median monthly salary before tax was DKK 46,972 (£5.5k) in 2024, with the amount projected to increase following a similar trend across European markets.

And while Aggerstrøm placed the 800 kroner as an average portion of 10% from the young men’s monthly consumption, deeming it “fairly large”, the economist did also point out that this is purely money coming out of accounts – with winnings left out of the statistics.

Regardless, she did caution against large expenditures, as there is a risk of developing problem gambling behaviour, which must be tracked at an individual level beyond statistical insights.

ROFUS, the national self-exclusion scheme managed by Denmark’s Gambling Authority of Spillemyndigheden, estimates that in June 2025, the number of self-excluded men aged 18-29 reached a total of 24,689.

This indicates that there is a good understanding among players about the support available to them if they fall victim to gambling harm.

Not only that, but general gambling spend among Danes appears to be slowing down, again as per Spillemyndigheden. The most recent data from the regulator revealed that in June, total gambling GGR dropped by 17% YoY.

Still, concerns remain about the current state of the Danish gambling market, with talks to limit advertisements being held at the highest political level.

Rasmus Stoklund, Minister of Taxation, was appointed in August, 2024. Since then, he has been actively reviewing the idea of imposing a stricter advertisement regime.

However, given the declining rates of licensed GGR, such a decision would likely need to be advised by a thorough investigation into the prominence of the black market in Denmark.

Danske Bank’s concerns reflect broader discussions across European markets on how best to protect young consumers aged 18 to 24 from gambling-related harm. In the Netherlands, authorities have been tasked with drafting new protections for under-24s as part of the Gambling Act reform.

Meanwhile, in Spain, licensed operators are now required to register all activity involving under-21 customers in a federal database, as the government considers implementing a universal deposit limit for young users.

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Political tensions are mounting in the Republic of Slovakia as debate intensifies over the governance, conduct, and social responsibility of the country’s gambling sector.

Leading the charge is Sports and Tourism Minister Rudolf Huliak, who has called on members of the National Council to back his proposed amendments to the Slovak Gambling Law.

Introduced in 2019 to licence and liberalise Slovakia’s online gambling market, the current law, Huliak argues, was designed to favour operators over citizen protections. This week, he introduced amendments that aim to “regulate, not promote, gambling.”

The proposals include restrictive measures targeting vulnerable groups, including individuals on social benefits, those in alimony arrears, and citizens who have failed to meet tax obligations.

Rudolf Huliak
We are not here to enable the gambling industry — we are here to control it,” said Huliak. “Illegal operators exploit loopholes, target vulnerable citizens, and funnel profits offshore. Meanwhile, regulated platforms face burdensome compliance with little competitive protection. That’s unsustainable.”

Huliak has also called for an expanded role for TIPOs, the national lottery company, in channelling gambling revenues into public and social initiatives.

Our goal is a clean, accountable, and socially responsible gambling environment. Strengthening TIPOS is not about state control for its own sake — it’s about ensuring that profits generated from gambling are reinvested in Slovak communities, not lost to foreign markets or shadow platforms.

This amendment is the first step in realigning the system toward public interest, rather than private enrichment.”

Tax shortfall must be answered
However, his proposals have drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties — particularly the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). The party accuses Huliak of posturing as a reformer while serving the interests of the gambling lobby and avoiding deeper questions around tax fairness and consumer protection.

The tax rate for fixed-odds betting in Slovakia stands at 22% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) for online operators and 6% of turnover for land-based venues — in addition to a 21% corporate VAT.

The KDH has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the distribution and transparency of gambling tax revenues, demanding answers as to how operators collected €1.4 billion from €24 billion in wagers, yet contributed only €340 million in taxes in 2024.

“This is a mockery of social justice,” KDH states, accusing Huliak of posturing whilst being aware of tax shortfalls but refuses to address them.”

Gambling dysfunctions exposed
A damning audit from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) and a comprehensive report by the Institute for the Regulation of Gambling (IPRHH) have further eroded confidence in the current regulatory regime.

The IPRHH’s Black Book of Illegal Gambling reveals a fragmented system failing to keep pace with the proliferation of digital, unlicensed gambling platforms — many of which allow anonymous betting, no age verification, and unlimited stakes.

Startlingly, 31% of Slovak youth aged 15–17 reported gambling online illegally, with early exposure linked to addiction and long-term debt risks. The report also highlights the growing influence of loot boxes in video games and social media influencers promoting offshore casinos, blurring the lines between entertainment and exploitation.

The SAO report found that enforcement failures were largely due to a lack of capacity. Between 2019 and 2025, the Gambling Authority (ÚRHH) let over 900 cases lapse due to missed deadlines — a consequence of having just one employee managing sanctions during that period.

A further legal loophole allows gambling halls to operate in municipalities that have banned them unless local authorities notify the regulator within five days — a provision the SAO labelled “unreasonable and dysfunctional.”

“Regulated operators are held to high standards — but that only works if unlicensed providers face real consequences. Right now, they don’t,” said Dávid Lenčéš, Executive Director of IPRHH.

Changing of regulatory guard

Calls for reform have gained further traction following a change in leadership at Office of Gambling Regulation (ÚRHH), with Director General Martin Bohoš stepping down and replaced by Jana Mravíková in early 2025.

Upon leaving office, Bohoš recommended a full review of the Gambling Act, six years after its implementation. He highlighted the urgent need for stronger consumer protections in online casino and high-risk games, warning of an “increasing divergence” in player behaviour — with Slovak consumers flocking disproportionately to online casino products over other verticals.

“Urgency is needed,” he said, citing data showing a steep rise in unregulated activity and insufficient safeguards in the current framework.