Legal Gambling Games in the Ukraine
Law No. 768-IX, which grew out of the Draft Law 2285-D, legalised the following types of gambling business:
- Land-based casinos that are located exclusively in special gambling zones: five-star hotels with at least 150 rooms in Kyiv, four- and five-star hotels with at least 100 rooms in other cities, out-of-town resort complexes with a five-star hotel, or special gambling zones created by the Cabinet of Ministers.
- Betting shops and online betting. The law establishes special requirements for betting software certification. Betting shops may only be opened in three- to five-star hotels or at racecourses.
- Online casinos. Online casinos must operate through websites in the UA domain zone (or approved mobile apps) and be connected to the State online monitoring system, which is still being built: in July 2026 the regulator announced a tender for its second stage. The owners of online casinos should also provide the opportunity for players to set voluntary limits on spending money and time.
- Slot machines. A separate licence is required for the slot hall business and for each slot machine. The slot halls can be located only in hotels of 3-stars and higher category (with at least 50 rooms in Kyiv and 25 rooms elsewhere), must have at least 300 square metres and may not be closer than 500 metres to educational institutions.
- Lotteries. Lotteries are regulated separately. In February 2026 Ukraine issued the first lottery licence in a decade, to Ukrainian National Lottery, and by March 2026 three lottery operators had paid a total of 72.6 million UAH for their new licences.
- Online poker. Poker operators receive a separate licence and are listed in the Register of online poker organisers.
The minimum age for gambling is increased - from 21 years. Persons who have asked to be excluded, or were excluded by a court, are entered in the Register of persons with restricted access to gambling. Until the law 768-IX came into force, the main legislative act that regulated gambling in the territory of the state was the 2009 Law On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine.
Gambling Licenses
Imperfect licensing mechanism was one of the factors that supporters of the gambling ban in Ukraine were appealing to. With this law some organisations were obtaining their own licenses and others were operating under the licenses of different companies. At the time when the ban was imposed, about 200 companies had a license to run gambling games, and over 4,000 companies were operating in this business. This is what the scheme looked like: the licensee would get an appropriate permit from the Ministry of Finance and local governing authorities and with an insufficient level of profit from its own establishments, the licensee would form a partnership network which provided opportunities for other companies to operate. The 2020 law was meant to leave no room for such manoeuvres: every type of gambling now needs its own licence, issued for five years. For example, an online casino licence costs 6,500 minimum monthly wages, and a land-based casino licence 60,000 minimum wages in Kyiv and 30,000 in other cities. Licences were first issued by the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL), created in 2020. Law No. 4116-IX of 4 December 2024 replaced the commission with a central executive body, the State Agency of Ukraine PlayCity, which was established in March 2025 and started work in June 2025. In May 2026 the Cabinet of Ministers moved PlayCity from the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the direct coordination of the Prime Minister. PlayCity has been actively enforcing the rules: in 2026 it annulled several licences, including that of the online casino Cosmolot in April 2026, and fined operators for using unlicensed software. At the time when the ban was imposed, a license would be issued for operations of gaming establishments and bookmakers without any detailed subdivision into various categories of gambling. The legislative basis did not outline any licensing procedure for online casinos.
Online gambling in Ukraine
Since the Law 768-IX "On state regulation of gambling organisation" took effect in 2020, online gambling has been legal in Ukraine. The online casinos operate under the state licences issued for the websites in the Ukrainian UA domain zone that implement the gambling online control system required by law. Among the most visited licensed online brands are First Casino, SlotsCity, Gorilla, Vbet, GGBet, BetKing and Beton. Since June 2026 a Cabinet resolution restricts access of military servicemen to gambling during martial law: legal online casinos must check new and returning users against the register of servicemen and block them automatically.
Until 2020 the online casinos in the Ukraine had no legal status, although the ban didn't not stop Ukrainian users from visiting the international gambling websites. Formally online casinos were supposed to be blocked for the Ukrainian players. In fact, the players had the opportunity to gain access to any online casino except for the international online gambling operators who restricted the gambling access for Ukrainian users. Illegal websites are still a problem: in its first year of work PlayCity identified more than 4,100 illegal gambling sites.
Slots
Roulette
Cards
Videopoker
Blackjack
Live Roulette
Slots
Roulette
Cards
Videopoker
Blackjack
Live Roulette
Slots
Roulette
Cards
Videopoker
Blackjack
Live Roulette
Slots
Roulette
Cards
Videopoker
Blackjack
Live Roulette
Slots
Roulette
Cards
Videopoker
Blackjack
Live Roulette
Popular slots in the Ukraine
Book of Ra by Greentube is listed as the top-ranking slot among the players from Ukraine. For many years this slot has remained one of the most favourite developments for Eastern European players, together with other Greentube classics such as Dolphin's Pearl, Columbus Deluxe, Sharky and Sizzling Hot Deluxe. Fruit Cocktail by Russian company Igrosoft was yet another favourite slot among the Ukrainian gambling fans. The slot gained interest due to the fact that it was also available in land-based gambling halls before gambling in Ukraine was outlawed, although legal Ukrainian operators may only use certified gaming software. The Aztec Gold slot has also been enjoying great interest among the Ukrainians. Just like Fruit Cocktail, the slot was widely available in gambling halls and land-based casinos. According to unofficial reports, this slot by Casino Technology can be found in underground facilities. Champagne Party by the same developer is also popular. These are the slots that are much played among Ukrainians : Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe (Greentube), Book del Sol: Multiplier (Playson), River Queen (Greentube), Sizzling Hot (Greentube) and Starburst (NetEnt). Among the providers of the newer generation, Pragmatic Play, Playson, Belatra, EGT, Push Gaming and 3 Oaks Gaming are the most played.
Developers of gaming software products
SGS Universal was one of the most sought after Ukrainian developers. The company commenced its official operations back in 2009, yet the developers claimed that the company had 30 years of experience. Over 100 different slots have been developed under the brand name of SGS Universal. HTML5 technology is used in making the games. These are the slots from the SGS portfolio that are especially in demand: Arabian Nights, Cabaret, Dembel, Fun Zoo, Russian Tales and Wheels of Fire. The company has its representatives in the US, Switzerland and the UK. There are many developers that have their representatives in Ukraine, which include: NetEnt, WinADay, Belatra and Drive Media.
Development of the Gambling Market in the Ukraine
The association agreement was signed between Ukraine and the European Union back in 2014. This agreement is aimed at a faster integration in various areas of politics, trade and culture. Ukraine received EU candidate status in June 2022 and opened accession negotiations in June 2024. It would be logical to assume that the gambling industry will be one of the aspects that will affect the convergence of Ukraine and the EU. This has to do with two points. First, ever since visa-free travel was introduced, tours to European regions with lenient legislation towards gambling became much played among the Ukrainian tourists. Special themed gambling tours were included in the list of Ukrainian travel agencies.
Legalisation of gambling from this standpoint was meant to allow the Ukraine to get a significant inflow of funds into the state budget and prevent their outflow abroad. Second, the European Union has a clear-cut regulation concerning organisation of gambling and a number of requirements towards providing access to goods and services that are legal in the EU. Now that gambling in Ukraine has legal status, the Ukrainian government will have to adapt its rules to the European commission's requirements as part of the accession process.
