Ukraine sets 2035 gambling addiction strategy and 2027-2029 action plan as war is named a risk factor

Ukraine has approved its first long-term, cross-sector strategy to fight gambling addiction, with a three-year operational plan for 2027-2029 layered on top. The useful part for PSPs is that the state is now treating illegal gambling, ad blocking, public health, and national security as one joined-up problem.

1. On 26 August 2026, the cabinet of ministers issued Order No. 855-r and tasked some 40 public agencies with coordinating work to reduce the social and economic harms associated with gambling by 2035. The strategy brings together health, social services, education, defence and security bodies, plus the gambling regulator PlayCity and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
2. Kyiv framed gambling addiction as a significant public health and national security challenge that needs a unified government response. The government said a recent study found that 75% of respondents regarded gambling as a serious challenge facing Ukraine.
3. The strategy sets five goals, including promoting healthy lifestyles, expanding timely treatment and social support for people with gambling disorders, fostering responsible play, suppressing the illegal market, and building a data-driven system for monitoring and evaluation. In practice, that means the state is no longer talking only about treatment; it is also talking about market suppression.
4. The 2027-2029 operational plan adds concrete steps: a nationwide public awareness campaign, gambling-risk content in school curricula, routine screening by health services for early detection of problem gambling, expanded access to psychological treatment, rehabilitation and social services, and dedicated prevention and rehabilitation measures for military personnel and veterans. It also calls for systematic blocking of illegal gambling websites and advertising, with annual progress reports managed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation starting in 2028.
5. The document says the prolonged war context in Ukraine has worsened vulnerability to harmful coping behaviours such as gambling, and gives particular attention to armed forces, veterans, young people and socioeconomically vulnerable groups. The regulator has also recently launched an automated mechanism that will block military personnel from accessing online gambling.

As of 1 January, Ukraine’s regulated gambling market comprised 34 lic... The source text cuts off here, but the direction is clear enough: the government is building a compliance and enforcement framework that reaches beyond licensed gambling into advertising, access control, and the illegal market. For high-risk operators and their PSPs, that usually means more pressure on traffic sources, tighter monitoring of payments connected to unlicensed activity, and a regulator that is now working with health and security bodies rather than in a silo.