Casino licences in Ukraine: which of them are genuinely valid
Straight to the point: for a player in Ukraine exactly one licence matters — the one issued by the state agency PlayCity. Curaçao, Malta, Anjouan, “registration in Costa Rica” and the rest of the documents that decorate site footers give you nothing here: they do not make a platform legal in Ukraine, do not place it under Ukrainian law and do not create any mechanism you could use in case of non-payment.
That does not mean you should not know about them — quite the opposite. Being able to tell a valid Ukrainian licence from an offshore badge in five seconds saves far more than any welcome bonus.
This material is informational, it is not advertising of operators and not legal advice. 21+
Who issues licences now
The market was legalised by law No. 768-IX in 2020. The first regulator was KRAIL, but in the spring of 2025 the commission was liquidated — officially because of a lack of transparency in issuing permits and corruption risks — and its powers passed to the State Agency of Ukraine PlayCity, which reports to the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The licences KRAIL managed to issue remain valid until the end of their term. That is why the register contains decisions by both bodies, and this is normal: what matters is that the record is active. According to the agency, as of 2026 about 34 companies operate on the market across all segments.
What types of licences exist
The law divides permits by type of activity, and this is important: a licence for bookmaking does not give the right to run an online casino, even though the brand may be the same.
- Casino on the internet — online casinos, the main category for most players.
- Gambling in land-based casino venues — physical venues, allowed only in “five-star” hotels.
- Slot machine halls — in hotels of three stars and above, with each machine licensed separately.
- Bookmaking — sports betting, with betting shops licensed separately.
- Online poker — a separate type of permit.
- Gaming tables — licensed per unit in addition to the venue licence.
The practical takeaway for a player: when checking an operator in the register, look not only at whether a record exists, but also at whether it covers the exact type of activity you intend to use.
What it costs the operator
The figures here are not abstract — they explain why the illegal segment is so large.
A licence for a casino on the internet is issued for five years, and the fee is 6,500 minimum wages, paid annually in equal instalments. Before the launch of the state online monitoring system, the annual fee was paid at triple the amount — which is exactly why launching the system was a matter of principle for the market. The exact amount in hryvnia changes along with the minimum wage, so you should look at the multiplier rather than at a figure from last year’s article. Other types of activity have their own multipliers, and the most expensive have traditionally been land-based casinos in the capital.
Add the share capital requirement — 30 million hryvnia — and it becomes clear why an offshore “licence” for a few thousand dollars looks more attractive to a dishonest operator. And why a site that has borne none of these costs disappears so easily along with players’ balances.
What is required of a licensee
The list is long, but several points matter to the player, because they are what turns into protection:
- A Ukrainian legal entity with a transparent source of share capital funds.
- A domain in the .UA zone and rights to the brand — the licence is tied to a specific address.
- Connection to the state online monitoring system, which transmits data on bets, deposits and payouts to the state.
- No links to the aggressor state and no sanctions restrictions; no criminal record among management and beneficial owners.
- No tax debt — a company with debts will not receive a licence.
- Certified equipment and responsible gambling tools — limits and self-restriction.
An application is reviewed within 15 working days. In parallel, PlayCity is digitalising the process: the plan is fully online submission through state services, with no paper.
A five-minute check
- Find the details in the site footer: the name of the legal entity, the number and date of the decision to issue the licence. Wording like “licensed and regulated” without numbers does not count.
- Open the regulator’s site manually. Type playcity.gov.ua yourself instead of clicking a link from the casino: fake “verification pages” exist and look convincing.
- Find the operator in the register — the “Registers and lists” section, then the relevant type of activity.
- Compare four fields: the company name matches the one on the site; the licence is active; the type of activity is the same; your domain is on the list.
- Save a screenshot of the record. The register is updated and a licence can be revoked — in a dispute this is your starting evidence for the moment you played.
Revocation: why this is not theory
A licence can be lost, and in Ukraine this happens regularly. Grounds include: forged documents in the application, non-payment of an instalment for more than two months, repeated breaches of conditions, failure to meet the requirements for connecting to the monitoring system. Separately, there is evidence of a Russian trail: if the security services provide such data, the regulator strips the company of its licence, and this procedure was already in force under KRAIL.
For a player this leads to an inconvenient but important conclusion: checking a licence is not a one-off action. A platform that was legal last year may have lost its permit, and you will not learn about it from a banner on the homepage.
Offshore licences: why they do not work here
| Document | Status in Ukraine | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| PlayCity (formerly KRAIL) | Legal | Ukrainian legal entity, regulator, courts, monitoring, self-restriction register |
| Malta (MGA) | Gives no right to operate in Ukraine | A strong regulator, but for its own markets; such operators often do not accept Ukrainians at all |
| Curaçao | Illegal for Ukraine | The regulator is being reformed, but Ukrainian law does not extend to such a site |
| Anjouan and similar | Illegal for Ukraine | Low barrier to obtain, player protection effectively absent |
| “Costa Rica licence” | Not a licence at all | The country does not issue gambling permits: this is ordinary company registration presented as a licence |
The last row deserves separate attention, because it is the most widespread substitution of concepts in the industry. Costa Rica has no dedicated gambling regulator: a company simply registers there as an ordinary business and receives a certificate of incorporation. There are no checks on founders, no requirements for safeguarding player funds, no software audits and no complaint handling procedure behind that piece of paper. When it is shown next to the word “licence”, the assumption is that nobody will check the difference.
The general rule for checking any document comes down to three questions: who issued it, what its number is, and whether there is a record in a public register with an active status and your domain on the list. A negative answer to any of them is a reason not to register.
Red flags
- The site refers to a foreign licence instead of a Ukrainian one.
- The domain is not in the .UA zone or is not covered by the licence — a typical situation with mirrors.
- The regulator’s logo is not clickable or leads to a page inside the casino itself.
- You can play without identification via Diia or BankID.
- Deposits are offered in cryptocurrency or by transfer to an individual’s card.
- A no-deposit bonus or free spins for registration are promised — free bonuses have been prohibited by law since April 2025.
- Support refuses to name the operator’s legal entity in writing.
What a licence gives — and what it does not
Honestly, on both counts. A Ukrainian licence gives you an address for a claim: a legal entity, a regulator and courts within one jurisdiction. It gives real-time state supervision through the online monitoring system. It gives mandatory limits and self-restriction that applies immediately across all licensed platforms. It gives certified software and automatic tax withholding — 23% of every payout, so you do not file a declaration.
What it does not give: favourable odds. The house edge is built into the mathematics of every game and is not cancelled by any regulation. A licence changes your chances of receiving a win, not your chances of getting one in the first place.
Responsible gambling
A verified licence reduces the risk of being left without a payout, but the outcome of a game does not depend on a document. Play only with amounts whose loss will not affect your plans, set spending and time limits honestly — with a legal operator this is a mandatory step before your first bet — do not try to chase losses and do not play on borrowed money. If you lose control, submit a self-restriction application: it applies to all licensed platforms at once and cannot be cancelled during the period you choose. Participation in gambling may cause gambling addiction. Follow the rules (principles) of responsible gambling. 21+.
Frequently asked questions
Which licence is valid for Ukraine?
Only one issued by the State Agency of Ukraine PlayCity. Licences issued earlier by KRAIL remain valid until the end of their term.
Does a Curaçao or Malta licence make a casino legal in Ukraine?
No. A foreign permit governs the operator’s relationship with that regulator and does not extend Ukrainian law to it. Such sites are illegal for Ukraine and subject to blocking.
Does a Costa Rica licence exist?
A gambling one, no. The country has no dedicated regulator, companies register there as ordinary businesses, and the certificate of incorporation is presented as a licence.
How much does an online casino licence cost?
6,500 minimum wages for five years, paid annually in equal instalments. The amount in hryvnia changes along with the minimum wage.
Can a licence be revoked?
Yes — for forged documents, non-payment for more than two months, repeated breaches or failure to meet monitoring requirements. That is why the check is worth repeating rather than relying on last year’s data.
Does having a licence mean the games are fair?
It guarantees certified software, state supervision and an address for a claim. A licence does not cancel the house edge built into the rules of the games.