Ukraine’s Government has announced it is preparing reforms to the lottery sector that would remove the concept of state ownership. Under the proposed legislation, the term “state lottery” would be removed from the legal framework as the state does not currently own lottery operators.
Officials said the existing terminology creates a misleading perception of state ownership. The draft law is being finalised before it is submitted for consideration.
Another key change would replace the current licensing competition process with an auction system, with operators selected based on the highest annual licence fee offer. The starting licence price would be set at UAH 24.2m.
The Government also plans to ban “Toto” lotteries, which are considered disguised forms of sports betting, as well as any visual representations resembling roulette, cards or dice games. Operators would be required to connect their betting systems to a state online monitoring platform, allowing regulators to track activity in real time.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation said existing requirements, including the mandatory three years of local operating experience, have limited the entry of foreign operators into the market. The revised system is intended to address this issue, although the market would remain capped at a maximum of three licensed operators.
In early March, the country issued its first lottery licences in more than 12 years, generating over UAH 72m in revenue for the state budget as authorities moved to formalise the market.
What does research show about Ukrainian online casino players?
At the same time, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation has published the second stage of a study on gambling’s impact on society, focusing on online casino players. The research found that 86% of players prefer licensed online casinos, while 78% do not plan to switch to illegal operators.
The study showed that most players began gambling before market legalisation, with curiosity and entertainment being the main motivations rather than financial gain. 59% of respondents consider their gambling controlled, while 35% said it sometimes becomes difficult to control and 6% reported frequent loss of control.
Players highlighted state protection, lower fraud risks and secure payments as key advantages of the legal market. The findings will support Ukraine’s efforts to improve gambling regulation.
The above-mentioned study showed that 64% of respondents are aware of responsible gaming tools
