The acting Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, has announced that the state will fund the implementation of the second phase of the State Online Monitoring System (SOMS).
This development follows the revelation that the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a case over alleged irregularities in the implementation of SOMS. Concerns were raised by Daniil Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, who filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office.
He reported receiving a letter from PlayCity Chair Gennady Novikov stating that “there will be no State Online Gambling Monitoring System”. Novikov claimed that no funding had been allocated in the 2026 State Budget.
PlayCity will submit an application through Digital Restoration Ecosystem for Accountable Management (DREAM System), and begin work on the second stage of SOMS.
Minister Bornyakov said the government will change how it funds digital public projects, shifting to the DREAM System. This is a platform that tracks a project’s progress in real time. It combines data from multiple systems into one place and was introduced to improve accountability and anti-corruption controls.
Bornyakov stated: “We demand full transparency from the gambling business. Every hryvnia of investment is under open control.’’
The first phase of the SOMS was approved on December 19, but it still does not provide full data coverage and remains in a testing phase as of early April.
For 2026, only UAH 28.5m ($658,350) was allocated for the system’s operation and development. Reportedly, PlayCity spent nearly all of this budget - UAH 23.77m - on technical administration of the first phase, leaving no funds for the second phase.
SOMS is part of broader reforms set by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, which mandated its introduction alongside measures to restrict gambling for military personnel and limit the use of military symbolism in gambling promotion.
PlayCity recently that in 2025 the gambling sector generated UAH 1.7bn ($39.4m) in licence revenues and almost UAH 17bn in tax contributions
