Ukrainian gambling regulator reports sharp drop in unlicensed sites
KRAIL says more than 1,000 unlicensed sites are no longer targeting Ukraine.
Ukraine.- The Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) has reported success in reducing the number of illegal gambling sites targeting Ukraine. It says that of 1,895 sites identified, only 727 were still offering unlicensed gambling in the country.
The regulator said the reduction in unlicensed sites was the result of its work to tackle illegal gambling through cooperation with law enforcement agencies. When it detects unlicensed gambling operations, KRAIL passes its information to the Bureau of Economic Security, which advises the National Centre for Operational-Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks to block the offending domains.
The list of 1,895 unlicensed sites included several mirror sites created in an attempt to evade IP blocks.
KRAIL head Ivan Rudy recently praised the joint work to curb illegal gambling, commending the work of colleagues from the State Financial Monitoring Service, the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank, the Ministry of Justice and the State Tax Service. He said KRAIL will continue to use all mechanisms available to guarantee financial security and tackle the black market.
Ukraine: sharp uptick in gambling exclusions
Last month, KRAIL reported a sharp rise in the number of people who excluded from gambling. While the total is still very small, the number of people choosing to exclude rose from 195 in 2021 and 315 in 2022 to 245 in the first four months of this year alone.
Of the 687 people now on the list, 643 are men and just 44 are women. Many applications were submitted by relatives: 45 by mothers, 13 by wives and eight by fathers. The majority are young, with 272 aged 21 to 30 and 278 between 31 and 40. Only 33 entries are aged 51 and over.
KRAIL launched Ukraine’s gambling exclusion register in 2021 following the re-legalisation of gambling in August 2020. It has since made maintenance of the register a “priority task”.
