Two state lotteries in Ukraine have been suspended by the country’s gambling regulator

The Ukrainian gambling regulator, known as KRAIL, has taken action against several operators in the past by cancelling their licenses. Recently, KRAIL has suspended two state lotteries, including an instant win lottery and a numerical draw.

The Ukrainian Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) has officially confirmed the suspension of two state lotteries, namely the instant win lottery Catch the Moment and the numerical draw lottery Penalty. The suspension has been in effect since the beginning of the month.

The lottery called Penalty had been operational since September 2018 before its suspension. The news of the suspension was reported by Zigzag Udachy, a Ukrainian lottery newspaper, and the Ukrainian National Lottery website. However, no specific reason for the suspension was provided. It was noted that both lotteries ceased accepting bets as of midnight on March 24.

The Ukrainian gambling regulator has taken action in the past by cancelling licenses of operators that were found to have links to Russian interests. This has resulted in sanctions against numerous businesses and individuals, with reports indicating that as many as 287 businesses and 120 individuals have been affected. Some of the sanctioned operators include Betcity, Bet.ru, First International Bookmaking Company, Sportloto, Sportbet, and Matchbet.

The companies that have been sanctioned will have their assets frozen and trade operations prohibited, including the withdrawal of funds from Ukraine. The list of sanctioned individuals includes people from various countries such as the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Turkey, the Netherlands, Poland, Armenia, as well as the Russian Federation. The monitoring and implementation of these sanctions will be overseen by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary, Oleksiy Danilov.

In the past month, the government of Ukraine has adopted proposals from KRAIL to modify the process of suspending and cancelling gambling licenses. These proposals have been included in the government’s 2023 action plan, which outlines steps to be taken during martial law to suspend gambling operators’ licenses and the procedures to review such measures once martial law is lifted. The aim is to establish clear guidelines and procedures for the suspension of licenses during times of martial law, ensuring transparency and accountability in the regulatory process.