Ukraine approves a 2027-2029 plan to curb gambling addiction and illegal betting

Ukraine has approved a three-year program to reduce gambling harm, with 40 public agencies set to work on the issue from 2027 to 2029. For PSPs, acquirers, and operators, the useful part is not the headline language about “awareness” but the government’s explicit push on illegal gambling, monitoring, and enforcement.

1. The plan was approved under Order 855 and runs from 2027 to 2029. The government says the program is meant to help reduce problem gambling rates in Ukraine by 2035, so this is being treated as a long-cycle public policy project rather than a one-off campaign.
2. The initiative brings together 40 public agencies, including organizations from the health, education, social services, security, and defense sectors. PlayCity, which regulates gambling in Ukraine, and the Ministry of Transformation are also part of the setup.
3. The program’s stated goals include promoting healthy habits, encouraging responsible gambling, providing social support for harmed individuals, and building a modern monitoring system. It also calls for a more intense crackdown on illegal gambling, which is the part operators and payment providers should actually read twice.
4. The government plans a nationwide problem gambling awareness campaign, student education on excessive gambling, and regular screening by health experts to identify people with gambling problems and connect them with treatment and social services. It also wants special rehabilitation services for military personnel and veterans, along with measures aimed at young people and other vulnerable groups.
5. The anti-illegal-gambling angle matters because PlayCity has said there are thousands of unlicensed platforms taking money from Ukrainian players and that up to half of all bets are being placed with illegal companies. A later study by the Ministry of Transformation said PlayCity’s estimates may be overstating the number of players who prefer illegal operators, but the government’s direction of travel is still clear: more scrutiny on black-market flow.

The program was approved after a recent study found that three in four Ukrainians are concerned about the gambling industry’s impact on public health. In practice, that kind of public pressure usually translates into more monitoring, more data-sharing between agencies, and more attention on payment rails connected to unlicensed activity.