The head of the state agency PlayCity, Gennady Novikov, has submitted a resignation letter. He announced this on Facebook, summarizing the agency’s work during his leadership.
The head of the state agency PlayCity, Gennady Novikov, has submitted a resignation letter. He announced this on Facebook, summarizing the agency’s work during his leadership.
He posted a copy of the statement on Facebook.
One of the key results, Novikov calls the launch of the State Online Monitoring System (SOM) into test operation — the system records the operational activities of gambling organizers, financial transactions, bets and payouts of winnings. 28 out of 30 licensed gambling organizers have already been connected to it, thanks to which the state for the first time receives a complete digital picture of the market, rather than fragmentary reporting. The team has prepared technical requirements, received approval and funding for the second stage of SOM and plans to announce a tender for expanding the functionality in the near future — the system should be fully launched this year.
According to Novikov, during the work of PlayCity, it was also possible to restore the licensing of the gambling business, which brought the state almost ₴2 billion in additional revenues; for the first time in over 12 years, to license lottery operators and return them to the regulatory field; to block over 700 pages on social networks with illegal gambling advertising and impose almost ₴88 million in fines for violating the law on advertising; to launch a tracking system for illegal websites, blocking over 9,500 sites and mirrors; to develop and fill industry registers in the field of gambling; to introduce a mechanism for self-restriction of access to the game — for oneself or close relatives — with the ability to issue restrictions in one day; to begin systematic work on the topic of gambling addiction: financial and time limits, principles of responsible gambling, new requirements for businesses regarding monitoring player behavior.
Together with the Ministry of Defense, PlayCity has developed, according to him, a mechanism for restricting the participation of the military in gambling. Also, scheduled inspections of the gambling business have been resumed after the moratorium, which has been in effect since 2022; an anti-corruption supervision system has been built at the agency, the composition of the expert group for which Ukrainians elected through open voting in the DIA; and 100% reporting of businesses to the state has been restored.
Together with the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the team also worked on amendments to the Tax Code, the Law on Gambling, and the Law on Lotteries, and also launched digital licensing for gambling businesses in the State.
We will remind you that in May, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the transfer of PlayCity from the sphere of management of the Ministry of Digital Affairs directly to the Cabinet of Ministers.
At the same time, this decision took place against the backdrop of a public conflict: the head of the Finance Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Danylo Hetmantsev, announced his demand for personnel decisions regarding the leadership of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and PlayCity.
Subsequently, the acting Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, as well as the ministry itself, voiced their official position regarding «systemic public attacks by People’s Deputy Danylo Hetmantsev.»
