Gennadiy Novikov appointed head of Ukraine’s new regulator
Ukraine’s new regulator, state-owned PlayCity, is headed by Gennadiy Novikov (pictured). Prior to the liquidation of CRGL, he was the deputy head of the organization Ivan Rudyj. At the same time, he supported the vision of the Ministry of Digital Transformation (Mincifra) in the field of gambling regulation by setting up the process of blocking illegal online casinos.
According to an official statement from Mincifra, Novikov initiated compliance audits of operators, which resulted in fines of more than €390k.
Novikov’s primary tasks
Commenting on his experience, Novikov emphasised the need to update the regulation of the gambling sector in Ukraine: ‘Working at CRGL helped me to form a clear vision of reforming the sector and creating a transparent and regulated gambling market. Now I will have enough power and tools to implement it.’
According to the tasks set by the Ministry of Digitalisation to the head of PlayCity, the following changes are expected in the gambling business of Ukraine in the near future:
- Digitalisation of the licensing process as part of the creation of unified, transparent rules for all market players.
- Launch of the state online monitoring system to control budget revenues and verify the legitimacy of licensees.
- PlayCity will introduce tools to control the market and fight illegal casinos.
- Restarting the register of gambling addicts and simplifying the process of applying for self-exclusion.
- No operators of Russian origin.
The launch of a transparent gambling market and increased control will benefit both consumers and the Ukrainian state budget. According to forecasts of the Ministry of Finance, additional tax revenues may reach €220 million per year.
Gambling business in the top 5 taxpayers in Ukraine
As we wrote earlier, in 2024, bookmakers and online casinos, representing the official gambling business in Ukraine, were among the leaders in the growth of income tax payments paid in the first half of the year. This info was reported by Danylo Getmantsev, head of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, in his Telegram channel.
According to statistics provided by Getmantsev, 25,165 business entities reported tax payments for the first half of 2024. This figure was 23.8 percent higher than the number of taxpayers in the same period of 2023.
In the first three months of 2025, the number of tax payments from the gambling business organisers amounted to €132 million. The growth compared to the same period of 2024 was 20.4%. Getmantsev stated that compared to the state budget revenues for the first three months of 2021, the number of tax payments from operators increased 143 times.
This article was first published in Russian on 10 April 2025.
