Ukraine to open competition for state-run lottery licences
Ukraine is overhauling its lottery ecosystem as part of a wider reset of the country’s gambling industry, a process that started with the replacement of the national regulator earlier this year.
PlayCity, which replaced the Ukrainian Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) in the spring, launched a tender for lottery licences, as reported by SBC News, under the guidance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT).
The government is seeking to curb the presence of grey market gambling in Ukraine, having noted that companies without government contracts were operating state lotteries, paying no licence fees and being subject to little to no tax oversight. From now on, only licensed operators will be able to do so.
The MDT had outlined an objective of pushing forward the digitisation of gambling earlier this year, with the First Deputy Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, confirming so via a Telegram post after meeting with President Zelensky.
Digitalisation is key to the new lotteries framework, which makes use of real-time tracking of ticket sales and winnings, electronic reporting, and QR codes which will be featured on every ticket and terminal to verify legality and point of sale.
Under the new framework, only licensed operators will be authorised to conduct state lotteries. The rules mandate electronic reporting and real-time tracking of ticket sales and winnings, while every ticket and terminal will carry a unique QR code to verify its point of sale and confirm the legality of the equipment.
Gambling, and by extension lotteries, are a big business in Ukraine, with many firms founded there now also active internationally. The government has been focused on clearing up the industry throughout 2024 and 2025, however, seeking to clamp down on corruption and illegality, and ensure tax revenues during the ongoing war with Russia.
Discussing the latest lottery initiative, Deputy Minister for the Digital Economy, Natalia Denikeeva, said: “The time for us to start a market where the initial conditions are the same for all is finally here. A competitive environment is established around that — one in which old schemes will not continue to win, but quality, technology and compliance with the law.”
https://lotterydaily.com/2025/12/02/retail/ukraine-lottery-tender/