Cabinet to relaunch state lottery market for first time in over 12 years

On November 19, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution establishing new and clear rules for lottery operators developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced this on her Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"For more than a decade, this sector has been operating in a "gray" zone: without control, transparent reporting, and payment of license fees. This led to significant losses for the budget and created opportunities for abuse," she wrote.

The new rules provide for:

- open competitions for obtaining licenses;

- annual license fees of over UAH 67 million from three operators;

- an electronic accounting system that will allow the state to track sales and payouts of winnings in real time;

- ⁠unique QR codes for each ticket and terminal to provide protection against counterfeiting and confirm the legality of the equipment.

"This decision returns the lottery market to the legal field and creates the prerequisites for real control over its work. The next step is to update the law "On State Lotteries". It needs serious improvement to end the monopoly, close regulatory gaps, and open the market to international companies and investments," Svyrydenko concluded.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in March 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers created the PlayCity state agency, which will be responsible for gambling and lotteries.