Regulators fined an individual entrepreneur UAH 4.8 million. The fine was for publishing materials with hidden endorsements of online casinos. These materials appeared on the financial website Finprom. PlayCity, a state agency has reported this. Komersant Ukrainian reports that it regulates the gambling industry.
The agency states that the publications appeared as reviews or ratings but actually promoted specific illegal gambling operators.
The text contained hyperlinks to pages with descriptions of bonuses and deposit conditions. It also included advertising calls to visit third-party resources. PlayCity considers this a direct violation of the law. They view it as a mechanism for attracting the audience to participate in gambling under the guise of informational materials.
The fine ranks among the largest ever imposed on a content platform that is not a specialized gambling resource. It demonstrates that the regulator focuses on restricting websites. It also holds authors and distributors of content that promotes illegal services responsible.
PlayCity also emphasizes that hidden casino advertising on social networks and information portals remain one of the main channels for attracting new users to the shadow gambling market.
Since 2025, its launch, PlayCity has reported a number of large-scale bookings.
Authorities restricted 2,500 illegal gambling sites in the first six months of operation.
In collaboration with TikTok, authorities deleted 33 accounts advertising gambling services in October. Their audience was over 365 thousand subscribers.
During the second wave of restrictions, authorities removed 47 additional accounts that distributed illegal content in November.
According to the regulator, it is preparing new mechanisms to counteract the shadow gambling business. These include tools to respond more quickly to sponsored, as well as native materials disguised as analytics.
