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Ігор Вишневський That's Life
9 October 2025, 15:52
2025-10-09
Oleksiy Dorohan, BRDO: "PlayCity's actions, at first glance, look legal. It's just that the law is sometimes written in such a way that everything looks a bit Kafkaesque."
In August, through a poll in «Diya», Ukrainians elected representatives of civil society to join the anti-corruption expert group at the state agency PlayCity. Among the nine experts tasked with public oversight of the new gambling regulator is the executive director of the Office of Effective Regulation (BRDO), Oleksiy Dorohan.
In August, through a poll in «Diya», Ukrainians elected representatives of civil society to join the anti-corruption expert group at the state agency PlayCity. Among the nine experts tasked with public oversight of the new gambling regulator is the executive director of the Office of Effective Regulation (BRDO), Oleksiy Dorohan.
On the sidelines of IT Arena 2025, we recorded a blitz interview with Oleksiy Dorohan — about the powers of this group, the situation in the gambling market and gaps in the legislation that regulates it, as well as the situation with the imposition of a fine on the dev.ua resource itself.
— You were recently elected to the anti-corruption expert group at PlayCity. What are the functions and powers of this advisory body?
— First of all, I want to say that I see a certain conflict of interest in dev.ua if you write on this topic. After all, you are actually in a dispute with PlayCity regarding the imposition of a fine. By the way, I will soon meet with your colleagues to discuss this situation (such a meeting later actually took place — Ed.).
I will not speak on behalf of the entire group, because I am only one of its members. So I will express exclusively my own position. I have read the regulations on this group — there are no significant powers there. The key thing is that there is the right to provide recommendations that are mandatory for consideration by PlayCity. But what does this mean in practice?
In my opinion, this means that our role and responsibility is to help stakeholders be heard by PlayCity. We do not receive any salaries from PlayCity — this is a completely volunteer activity.
This is an independent group of experts who, for their part, can provide recommendations on solving certain problems in the industry. It is obvious that the market is currently in a difficult state. I joined this council because I see how much tax the state is not receiving in this sector. And these are the funds that we could be using to finance our army. In my work at PlayCity, I focus on ensuring that everything is done transparently, openly, in accordance with the law, and that all taxes are paid properly.
— Do you see a certain selectivity in PlayCity’s first steps and is the «media 21+» stamp a sufficient safeguard against gambling addiction in conditions where detailed requirements for gambling advertising are not prescribed at all?
— I have considerable experience in analyzing public policy. And when I am faced with the consequences of public policy in a certain area, I always try to understand why this or that law was written.
We currently have the following situation: if you want to receive money from casinos for advertising gambling, you just need to register with the media regulator as «Media 21+» — and no questions will arise for you. I’m simplifying a bit, but overall it looks strange. After all, it’s completely unclear what problem we’re solving with this.
Executive Director of the Office of Effective Regulation BRDO Oleksiy Dorohan
Relatively speaking, I go to the site and see the inscription: «for an audience of 21+». But this is more of a formality — a theoretical, not a practical restriction on advertising. These restrictions are needed in order not to attract minors to gambling advertising and not to make it attractive to them. This is a matter of public interest, because it is about reducing the risks of gambling addiction. And how is this public interest ensured by the «21 plus» stamp with the corresponding registration of media in this category? The answer is not obvious.
Our group has already met for several meetings, including a constitutive one. There, among other things, we discussed this situation.
We decided to contact PlayCity with a request to discuss or consider our recommendations. But it is definitely necessary to initiate changes to the legislation. And we would like to talk about these changes, firstly, with the public, secondly, with regulators, and thirdly, of course, with market representatives. This does not look like a quick process, although we have heard that a bill is already being prepared somewhere regarding changes to either the regulation of gambling itself or its advertising.
We are open to dialogue. We want to understand this problem and offer some reasonable solution.
— Why does PlayCity block some bloggers on Instagram, and impose a fine of 4.8 million UAH on others? Why is there no gradation of violations? How do you see the situation with our media outlet, which was one of the first to receive a fine of 4.8 million UAH for rather non-obvious things?
— Our anti-corruption group is definitely not a court, and I am not a judge either. PlayCity’s actions, at first glance, look legal. It’s just that the law is sometimes written in such a way that everything looks a bit Kafkaesque.
In other words, when an absurd law is applied, it is difficult to call it the rule of law. It is very difficult to somehow determine between you and PlауСity the guilty and innocent party from this point of view.
Let me give you another example. Is pornography criminalized in our country? Yes. And there is the corresponding work of the police, prosecutors, who transfer cases, and the courts stamp out verdicts almost every day. Is this legal? Yes, of course. But the situation is definitely inadequate.
So the situation with «media 21+» seems somewhat inadequate to me. There is an attempt to regulate gambling through such a criterion, but in practice it does not work. And so far, no good solutions are visible.
Even if all media were to be registered as «21+,» it would have no impact on gambling addiction or its appeal to minors. We can pretend that we are fighting it or even that we have overcome it. But in essence, it is just a formality that does not protect anyone from anything.
— Recently, news appeared about the creation of the State System for Online Gambling Monitoring and even the winner of the corresponding tender. What issues will this system be able to resolve?
— I don’t know much about it yet. But, as far as I understand, the system should perform the following key functions: record deposits, record winnings, record withdrawals. In fact, these operations form the basis for taxation.
It’s like the checks issued by sole proprietors. In theory, this system should make it impossible to evade taxes.
It is said that different gambling operators pay taxes differently: some evade, some do not pay. The new state system should eliminate such issues, and its creation is an important step in making this market transparent.
Casinos are returning to the media: now even a blogger can officially advertise gambling. Moreover, casinos themselves are becoming official media outlets.
