Professional association predicts dramatic decline in I-Gaming industry performance
The total revenue of the Ukrainian I-Gaming market reached UAH 47.6 billion in the first nine months of 2025, of which UAH 20.5 billion was generated in the third quarter, compared with UAH 59.6 billion for entire 2024. However, the forecast for the fourth quarter is extremely pessimistic due to increased administrative pressure on licensed operators, according to a press release by the Association of Ukrainian Gambling Operators (AUGO) on Monday.
"Firstly, we are currently facing direct pressure from certain politicians on legal operators, accompanied by attempts to discredit the industry in the media. This campaign is fueled by illegal Russian casinos, which are still unblocked and operating in the Ukrainian internet segment. Secondly, incidents of banks deliberately blocking payments to legal operators have become more frequent," said AUGO President Oleksandr Kohut, as quoted in the statement.
Regarding the blocking of payments, he noted that this is a particularly painful aspect of administrative pressure, causing losses both for operators and for the state budget.
"The pressure we are witnessing is the result of an artificially created monopoly in the industry’s payment system," emphasized the head of AUGO.
He added that the industry is currently seeing a completely new trend — active attempts to introduce spending limits and additional restrictions for Ukrainians playing at legal online casinos. In his view, this will significantly impact the sector’s revenue, as citizens who encounter any artificial barriers while playing at legal casinos will simply turn to illegal operators, where such restrictions do not exist.
Kohut clarified that on October 23, the Ministry of Digital Transformation published a draft order on its official website for public discussion titled On Establishing Player Spending and Participation Time Limits in Gambling. The document proposes fixed spending limits for players relative to their income (self-reported by the player) and maximum allowed participation time in gambling per day, week, and month.
According to the press release, AUGO members and the largest market operators (a total of 11 companies) have already addressed the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Finance, and the market regulator Play.City with a letter criticizing the draft.
The press release also cites EU experience, where, according to forecasts by the research firm H2 Gambling Capital, offshore gambling volumes are expected to reach EUR 23 billion by 2030 due to stricter regulation and excessive oversight of "white" (licensed) players. For this reason, many EU countries deliberately did not introduce any mandatory gambling limits, AUGO notes.
According to the association’s study, the Responsible Gambling Practices Report, in countries where significant mandatory limits on "gambling deposits" or losses are imposed, the share of the illegal market ranges from 40% to 75%. In contrast, in countries where such limits are voluntary, it accounts for only 5-30% of the market.