KRAIL has reported a significant decrease in unlicensed gambling websites

KRAIL, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, has reported a decrease in the number of illegal gambling sites targeting Ukraine. Out of the 1,895 sites identified, only 727 are currently offering unlicensed gambling in the country.

The regulator attributed the decline in unlicensed sites to its collaboration with law enforcement agencies to combat illegal gambling. When KRAIL detects unlicensed gambling operations, it shares its findings with 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 unlicensed sites included several mirror sites that were created to circumvent IP blocks.

Ivan Rudy, the head of KRAIL, has recently commended the collaborative efforts to combat illegal gambling, praising the work of his colleagues from the State Financial Monitoring Service, Ministry of Finance, National Bank, Ministry of Justice, and State Tax Service. He stated that KRAIL would continue to employ all available mechanisms to ensure financial security and combat the black market.

There has been a significant increase in the number of individuals opting for gambling self-exclusion in Ukraine

In the previous month, KRAIL reported a significant increase in the number of individuals who have voluntarily excluded themselves from gambling. While the total number remains relatively small, there has been an increase in the number of people opting for exclusion, rising from 195 in 2021 and 315 in 2022 to 245 in the first four months of this year alone.

Out of the 687 people on the exclusion list, 643 are men and only 44 are women. Several applications were submitted by family members, with 45 from mothers, 13 from wives, and eight from fathers. The majority of those on the list are young, with 272 aged between 21 and 30, and 278 aged between 31 and 40. Only 33 individuals on the list are aged 51 or above.

KRAIL introduced Ukraine’s gambling exclusion register in 2021 following the country’s re-legalization of gambling in August 2020. Since then, maintaining the register has been a “priority task” for the regulator.