Online gambling in Ukraine: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Ukraine?

Online gambling is legal in Ukraine for Ukrainian companies holding a five-year licence: separate licences exist for online casino, online poker and bookmaking (which covers betting shops and the internet), plus land-based casinos, slot halls and B2B gambling services. Fees are set in minimum wages and paid in annual instalments, with the online casino and bookmaking instalments charged at triple rate until the State Online Monitoring System is formally in operation. Operators pay an 18% tax on GGR plus 18% corporate income tax and withhold 18% personal income tax and a 5% military levy from player winnings. Law 4116-IX, in force from 2025, dissolved KRAIL, tightened advertising and player-protection rules and led to the creation of PlayCity under the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Ukraine?

• State Agency of Ukraine PlayCity (Державне агентство ПлейСіті) (PlayCity) — Issues and revokes gambling and lottery licences, runs the restriction (self-exclusion) register and the State Online Monitoring System, blocks unlicensed sites and fines operators and advertisers; coordinated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation
• State Tax Service of Ukraine (STS) — Administers the gambling tax on GGR, corporate income tax and the withholding of personal income tax and military levy on winnings

Ukraine gambling licence: how it works

Law 768-IX of 14 July 2020 licenses each gambling activity separately for five years: online casino (Article 53), online poker (Article 56), bookmaking covering both betting shops and online (Article 54), land-based casinos, slot halls and B2B gambling services. Applicants must be Ukrainian legal entities with at least UAH 30 million of charter capital formed in cash from provable sources, a winnings guarantee of 7,200 minimum wages, no control by persons connected with an aggressor state, and an online system under the operator's own brand on a .ua domain in Ukrainian. Since 1 April 2025 files go to PlayCity, which decides within 15 working days and issues licences through the Diia portal under the conditions of Cabinet Resolution 1341 of 2020. The licence fee is paid in equal annual instalments.

What an applicant needs

• Ukrainian legal entity with charter capital of at least UAH 30 million formed in cash
• Winnings guarantee of 7,200 minimum wages (about UAH 62.3 million in 2026) as a deposit or bank guarantee
• No ownership or control by residents or entities of an aggressor state; beneficial owners disclosed and screened
• Online system under the operator's own brand on a .ua domain, with connection to the State Online Monitoring System within the statutory window
• Player verification of identity and age 21, checks against the restriction register and the register of military personnel
• Responsible-gaming tools, AML procedures as a primary financial-monitoring entity, and certified gaming equipment and software
• Licence fee instalments paid on time; two months of arrears is a termination ground

Gambling taxes in Ukraine

• Operators: Gambling tax of 18% of gross gaming revenue (income from betting, casino and online games less winnings paid) and 10% of gross income from slot machines, plus corporate income tax at 18% on profit; the gambling tax is not deductible for corporate tax (Tax Code, 2026).
• Players: 18% personal income tax and a 5% military levy withheld by the operator from every winning paid out; draft Tax Code amendments under consultation in 2026 would base the tax on net winnings (winnings minus deposits).
• Also: Licence fees added about UAH 1.89 billion to the budget in 2025 (PlayCity). Fines are set in minimum wages, for example 600 minimum wages for unlawful gambling advertising.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Only licensees may advertise, and every advertisement must show the licence details and a warning that gambling can be addictive covering at least 15% of the ad. Since Law 4116-IX gambling advertising is banned outdoors, on goods and at events for people under 21, and may not use military personnel, war themes or celebrities who are not registered media entities. PlayCity fined bloggers, media and websites a combined UAH 67.2 million in about six months.

Responsible gaming

Players must be 21 or older. A national restriction register lets people self-exclude through Diia, and operators must block anyone on it; under martial law active military personnel are barred and operators cross-check logins against the military register, with automated integration due by 24 December 2026. Deposit, loss and time limits, breaks in play and displayed warnings are mandatory, and credit to players is prohibited.

Identity and age verification

Identity and age verification before play, with checks against the restriction register and the military register; operators are primary financial-monitoring entities under the AML law, verify source of funds and report suspicious transactions to the State Financial Monitoring Service.

Payments

Deposits and withdrawals run through Ukrainian banks and payment institutions by card, bank transfer and mobile wallets, in hryvnia, to accounts in the player's name. PlayCity treats crypto deposits and transfers to personal bank cards as markers of an unlicensed casino, so licensed brands do not accept crypto. Winnings are paid net of the 18% tax and 5% levy.

Notable restrictions

• Minimum gambling age is 21
• Licensed sites must run on a .ua domain in Ukrainian under the operator's own brand
• Military personnel are barred from gambling under martial law, with automated register checks
• No outdoor advertising, no war or military themes, no unregistered celebrities in advertising
• Persons and companies connected with an aggressor state may not own or control a licensee
• Triple licence-fee instalments apply until the online monitoring system is in operation

Ukraine iGaming market: size, players and payments

Licensed operators paid nearly UAH 17 billion in taxes in 2025 and UAH 3.48 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (PlayCity, via RBC-Ukraine); GGR is not published, and PlayCity issued 250 licences of all types in its first year of operation.

About 30 companies held gambling licences in 2026, with 28 connected to the pilot of the State Online Monitoring System.

Self-exclusion and complaints run through the Diia digital-government app, and licensed brands are mobile-first.

Leading licensed brands include Cosmolot, Favbet, Slotoking, GGBet and Vbet; PlayCity inspections in 2026 produced fines of more than UAH 988 million.

Timeline: how Ukraine got here

1. 2009Ukraine bans all gambling except lotteries after a slot-hall fire
2. 2020-07Law 768-IX legalizes and licenses casinos, online gambling, poker, bookmaking and slot halls; KRAIL created
3. 2021First online casino and bookmaking licences issued; Law 1914-IX moves gambling tax to an 18% GGR base
4. 2024-12Parliament adopts Law 4116-IX to liquidate KRAIL and tighten advertising and player-protection rules; signed January 2025
5. 2025-03Cabinet Resolution 336 of 25 March creates the State Agency PlayCity under the Ministry of Digital Transformation
6. 2025-04KRAIL liquidated on 1 April; PlayCity assumes licensing and supervision, moving applications to Diia
7. 2026-04State Online Monitoring System enters pilot with the first licensed operators connected
8. 2026-05Draft Law 15111-d and Tax Code amendments on net-winnings taxation under consideration

Outlook

The decisive event is the formal launch of the State Online Monitoring System, which ends the triple licence-fee coefficient and obliges every operator to connect within six months; PlayCity has said only a procurement tender stands between the pilot and full operation. Draft legislation would move gambling policy to the Ministry of Finance and tax players on net winnings, while a full gambling ban for military personnel continues to be debated.

Launching in Ukraine with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). Ukrainian licences are granted to Ukrainian companies with local capital and ownership screening, so the operator holds the licence and runs its brand on GameBridge technology; GameBridge holds no Ukrainian licence and does not serve Ukraine under its own licences.

A Ukrainian brand on GameBridge runs on the operator's .ua domain with a Ukrainian-language front end, a UAH wallet and geo-controls that admit only verified residents aged 21 or over who clear the restriction and military registers. Payment rails are limited to Ukrainian bank cards, transfers and mobile wallets through the operator's bank, with crypto disabled, and the wallet withholds the 18% personal income tax and 5% military levy at payout. The platform exposes the transaction feed the State Online Monitoring System requires, responsible-gaming settings map to the mandatory limits and self-exclusion, the promotions engine excludes credit and prohibited incentives, and GameBridge Studios and Originals ship with the certification package Ukrainian conformity assessment needs.

• Ukrainian-language front end on the operator's .ua domain with a UAH wallet
• Age-21 verification with restriction-register and military-register checks
• Automated withholding of personal income tax and military levy on winnings
• Transaction feed prepared for the State Online Monitoring System
• Deposit, loss and time limits, breaks in play and self-exclusion tools
• Promotions engine locked against credit and prohibited incentives
• Certification package for every GameBridge Studios and Originals release

Slots and live casino lead Ukrainian lobbies, with football betting and poker as strong second products; the aggregated catalog of {providersAvailable} game providers includes suppliers already active with Ukrainian licensees, and GameBridge Studios builds exclusive titles with certification files for each release.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Державне агентство України ПлейСіті — PlayCity, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling laws in Ukraine – CMS Expert Guide to gambling laws in CEE — CMS, accessed 2026-09-11
• Regarding taxation of business entities involved in the organization and gambling conduction — State Tax Service of Ukraine, accessed 2026-09-11
• How to Get a Gambling License in Ukraine (2026) — GamblingMaps, accessed 2026-09-11
• PlayCity's first year – more taxes, tighter controls, fewer illegal casinos — RBC-Ukraine, accessed 2026-09-11
• PlayCity after a year of operation: what has changed in the gambling market — LIGA.net, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.