PlayCity has revoked the online casino licence held by Cosmolot operator Spaceix after finding breaches linked to payment processing, marking one of the clearest signs yet of tougher enforcement in Ukraine’s licensed gambling market.
According to statements attributed to acting Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov, the regulator found that the operator accepted peer-to-peer (P2P) card transfers instead of using transparent payment details.
PlayCity imposed two separate fines on Spaceix worth almost UAH 13m ($313,000) in total. The regulator said UAH 8.6m related to the use of P2P payments, while a further UAH 4.3m was tied to the ability to top up accounts using cards belonging to third parties.
Bornyakov said: "This year, we have radically changed the logic of regulating the gambling business."
He added that the market is moving from paper reporting to the State Online Monitoring System and "working with transactions in real time."
That shift matters because payment controls have become a central part of gambling oversight in regulated markets, particularly where authorities are trying to improve tax reporting, identify unlicensed activity and reduce the scope for opaque financial flows.
In Ukraine, PlayCity has increasingly linked market supervision to transaction visibility and enforcement against both unlicensed operators and licensed businesses that breach compliance requirements.
Bornyakov said that in the new model, "any 'schemes' or deviations will be highlighted instantly."
He also stated that amendments to the core gambling law have been prepared and are expected to be considered by the Verkhovna Rada this year, with the aim of tightening rules around betting regulation and operator checks.
The enforcement action also arrives against a difficult backdrop for Cosmolot. In 2024, investor and co-owner Arnulf Damerau told Western media that he had been extorted for tens of millions of euros by corrupt officials in Ukraine’s law enforcement bodies and presidential administration.
Earlier this week, PlayCity said it had started working with YouTube to block illegal gambling advertising, part of a broader enforcement push that also includes site blocking, social media takedowns and the rollout of the State Online Monitoring System in a test environment.
The move suggested the regulator’s current focus extends beyond illegal operators to advertising compliance and transaction-level oversight across the wider market.
PlayCity said the rules in Ukraine’s gambling market are the same for all operators as it prepares further legal changes aimed at stricter checks on licence holders
