The Ukrainian State Agency for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries has imposed sanctions in the form of a fine on the owner of the Instagram account @рараелик, which has almost 300,000 followers. The blogger systematically published promotional materials with active links to online casinos and encouraged the audience to join gambling.
The Ukrainian State Agency for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries has imposed sanctions in the form of a fine on the owner of the Instagram account @рараелик, which has almost 300,000 followers. The blogger systematically published promotional materials with active links to online casinos and encouraged the audience to join gambling.
As reported by Play City, for these actions he was fined 600 minimum wages — ₴4.8 million. The agency emphasizes that such punishments should serve as a signal to other opinion leaders who still earn money by promoting prohibited content.
According to the open register, the blogger's name is Yelizar Bashynsky. He has been registered as an individual entrepreneur since October 2023. His main activity is advertising agencies (KVED 73.11). Additional areas include mediation in placing advertising in the media and educational services.
Gambling advertising in Ukraine is only permitted in registered online media and under clearly defined conditions. Personal Instagram pages do not fall into this category, so using them to promote casinos is considered a gross violation.
PlayCity notes that inspections will continue, and citizens are urged to report suspicious advertising to [email protected]. The regulator also monitors copycat sites and related domains that are trying to circumvent the blocking.
In previous months, the agency has repeatedly imposed fines on bloggers and advertising platforms, calling it part of a broader market reform. The goal is to reduce the shadow segment and ensure the same rules for legal industry participants.
We have reached out to PlayCity and Elizar for comment on this situation.
As we previously reported, dev.ua also wrote about how PlayCity blocked seven more Instagram accounts for illegal casino advertising. Among those blocked is the famous millionaire blogger Simbochka.
Also recently, the State Agency for Control of Gambling and Lottery Business Playcity on August 8 decided to fine Dev Ukraine LLC (dev.ua) for violating the requirements of advertising legislation. The fine is 600 minimum wages, or UAH 4.8 million.
