The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has appointed Gennady Novikov as the head of Ukraine’s new state agency PlayCity. He previously worked at the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, which was replaced by PlayCity.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has appointed Gennady Novikov as the head of Ukraine’s new state agency PlayCity. He previously worked at the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, which was replaced by PlayCity.
Novikov’s appointment was announced by the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, AIN writes.
In late March, the government adopted a resolution to liquidate the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries. It ceased operations on April 1 and was replaced by the state agency PlayCity, which will operate under the coordination of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The new state agency, in particular, will fight casinos with Russian roots and stimulate tax revenues from the legal casino and lottery market.
Previously, Gennady Novikov held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff at KRAIL, and in 2022 was a member of this commission. In February 2023, he was dismissed from the position of a member of KRAIL.
From 2018 to 2020, he worked at the Ministry of Digital Affairs, where he held the position of Chief Specialist of the IT Industry Development Department in the Digital Development Department, and left the ministry as the Head of the Expert Group for E-Commerce and Business Development of the Digital Development Directorate.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs says that Gennady Novikov established the process of blocking illegal online casinos in KRAIL, when 4,500 such sites and applications were blocked in 2024. He also facilitated inspections of gambling organizers for compliance with the law, as a result of which fines of almost UAH 18 million were collected.
«Hennadiy supported the Ministry of Digital Affairs' vision of digitalizing the gambling sector and disbanding KRAIL. As the head of PlayCity, he will be responsible for implementing the policy in the field of gambling and lotteries and a full restart of market reform under the coordination of the Ministry of Digital Affairs», — the ministry noted.
Recall that at the end of March 2024, a soldier of the 59th brigade, Pavlo Petrichenko , wrote about the «gambling epidemic» in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and initiated a petition on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine to restrict the work of online casinos. It quickly collected the 25,000 signatures necessary for consideration. On April 15, Pavlo Petrichenko gave his life defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion near Avdiivka, Donetsk region.
Subsequently, President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the head of the SBU, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council to collect analytics on online casinos and their impact on part of society.
Later, People’s Deputy and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced the approval of draft law No. 9256d, which contains restrictions on gambling advertising and access to gambling for the military.
