Ukraine’s parliament introduces bill to overhaul PlayCity
On 20 July 2026, Bill No. 15432 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of the Activities of the Authorised Body in the Field of Organisation and Conduct of Gambling and Lotteries” was registered in Ukraine’s supreme legislative body, the Verkhovna Rada. Its purpose is the institutional overhaul of the State Agency PlayCity, which has regulated the country’s gambling and lottery market since 2025. The bill’s author is Danylo Getmantsev, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy and one of the agency’s most persistent critics.
PlayCity was established in 2025 to replace the dissolved Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAІL). The transition was overseen by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. Just four days before Getmantsev submitted the bill, on 16 July 2026, the agency’s incumbent head Gennadiy Novikov announced his resignation.
What the bill proposes
The bill’s central innovation is a new procedure for selecting the head of PlayCity. A seven-member selection commission would be formed following the model already used in the appointment of the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security: three representatives from international organisations, three from the Cabinet of Ministers, and one from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). Commission sessions would be open to journalists and the public, with live video broadcast. The bill’s authors explicitly identify the risks of direct appointment without open competition, noting that this practice led to the high-profile scandals that surrounded KRAІL’s leadership.
Ukraine is currently under martial law, during which public service competitions are ordinarily suspended, but the bill proposes an exception for PlayCity. Candidates would face strict requirements: a master’s degree, at least ten years of total professional experience and five years in senior roles, and an impeccable reputation. The term of office would be five years, with a maximum of two consecutive terms. The head, agency staff and their close relatives would be prohibited from holding ownership interests in gambling operators or lottery companies. Regular integrity checks for all staff are also envisaged, as well as an independent international audit of the agency’s performance: one year after the new head’s appointment and again after three years.
The full text of the bill, the explanatory note and the comparative table are already available in the bill’s record on the Rada website. The document is under consideration by 13 committees, including the relevant committees on defence, anti-corruption policy and public health.
A resignation without explanation
In his farewell post of 16 July 2026, Gennadiy Novikov gave no reason for his departure but summarised the agency’s achievements over the past year.
According to Novikov:
- 28 of the 30 licensed gambling operators have connected to the State Online Monitoring System (SOMS), which launched in test mode in April;
- restored licensing regime has generated nearly UAH 2bn (approximately €39m) in additional revenue;
- and fines of close to UAH 88m (approximately €1.7m) have been imposed for illegal gambling advertising.
Novikov wrote that over the year the state body had demonstrated it could be “fast, digital and effective”. Shortly after his post, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Natalia Denikeieva publicly thanked Novikov for their work together. “In this one year, we managed to do what no one had managed for years: build a new model of state regulation of the gambling market, launch digital solutions, restore state control and lay the foundation for fair rules of the game”, she wrote on her Facebook page.
A public confrontation
The farewell post, which mentioned no disagreements, stands in contrast to the public conflict surrounding PlayCity. According to Interfax-Ukraine, in February 2026 criminal proceedings were opened following a complaint by Getmantsev over alleged violations in the tender for the state lottery operator licence. In his view, the Ukrainian National Lottery had received a licence despite not meeting all the competition’s conditions.
The conflict intensified in May when proposals emerged to transfer the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s regulatory powers to the Ministry of Finance. PlayCity opposed the move, warning that it risked delaying the launch of SOMS by at least a year.
In early June, the Ministry of Digital Transformation publicly accused Getmantsev of running a discrediting campaign, stating that “the more real change happens in this area, the more pressure we feel”. The Ministry reasoned that transparent regulation was an expected response from those who had benefited from a weak system for years.
Getmantsev himself insists that an open competition for the head of PlayCity, involving international organisations, must be the first step in any change of leadership, and describes the full launch of SOMS as a prerequisite for establishing a proper taxation system for gambling winnings. On his Telegram channel, he wrote: “We must finally put an end to this corrupt chaos and, very importantly, openly and transparently appoint someone who will not be anyone’s puppet and will have no obligations to a patron”.
What comes next
Bill No. 15432 is currently at the committee review stage, with no confirmed voting date and no official response from PlayCity to the text of the document. The next step in the reform is the open competition the bill was written to enable. In leaving his post, Gennadiy Novikov expressed hope that his successor would not lose the momentum of an institution that is changing the country’s gambling landscape. Whether the regulator can navigate a change of leadership without damaging its reputation or Ukraine’s industry remains to be seen.
This article was first published on the Russian SiGMA News page on 27 July 2026.
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