Following the order of the State Special Communications Service, 133 illegal online casinos were closed in Ukraine on July 8, 2025.
This was reported by the Association of Ukrainian Gambling Business Operators (AUGBO).
«Today, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Special Communications Service, the NKEC, and the Association of Ukrainian Gambling Business Operators successfully completed a large-scale operation to block 133 illegal online casinos operating in the Ukrainian internet space. The corresponding order from the State Special Communications Service regarding the blocking of IP addresses/websites was sent to Ukrainian internet providers on July 3, 2025, and is mandatory to execute within three working days», the statement said.
According to AUGBO, the shadow business that has been shut down was generating between 3 to 5 billion UAH in illegal turnover quarterly.
The activities of illegal online casinos were blocked using technical and software tools. Illegal financial processing was also halted, and relevant P2P payments were frozen.
According to the association, up to 50% of the gambling market is currently operating in the shadows, causing the state to lose up to 10 billion UAH annually. Meanwhile, licensed gambling operators in Ukraine paid over 17 billion UAH in taxes last year and 6.4 billion UAH in January-April 2025.
As emphasized by AUGBO President Oleksandr Kohut, illegal casinos, most of which have roots in Russia, cause direct harm to the state, the legitimate business, and most importantly, to Ukrainian citizens. These sites, which are often cloned after being blocked, pose a very high risk of fraud, as well as personal and financial data leakage of players.
AUGBO reminded that since February 14, 2025, the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of gambling in Ukraine is the responsibility of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. On March 21, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers made a decision to create a new central executive body – the state agency «PlayCity». The fight against illegal casinos is one of the top priorities of the new gambling business regulator.
As previously reported, within two weeks of its operation, the agency «PlayCity» identified and submitted for blocking to the National Commission for the State Regulation in the fields of electronic communications, radio frequency spectrum, and postal services, 824 illegal online casinos.
