Over 1.7 thousand people have already been added to the list in the first two months of 2025
Almost 13 thousand people have been included in the Register of Problem Gamblers as of early March, according to the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL). Over the past year, the number of problem gamblers on the list has increased 3 times. Almost 1.5 thousand more people were removed from the list due to the expiration of the restriction period. Overall, last year, on average, 780 new people were added to the Register every month.
12,807 Ukrainians are currently on the Register of Gambling Problems. The list has increased 3 times over the year. Over the past year, the Register was replenished by 9,389 people, and 1,496 were excluded due to the expiration of the restriction period.
In total, 14,979 people have been added to the Register since its inception, of whom 2,172 have already been removed.
99% of all entries in the Register are voluntary applications. People apply for self-restriction themselves to deny themselves access to gambling facilities and participation in gambling for a certain period of time. The term of such restriction is from six months to three years.
Only 1% are people who have their access restricted by a decision of the CRGL. There have been 169 such decisions since the registry was created. Almost all of them took place last year – 140 decisions. But not a single person has been included in the Register by a court decision.
“It is indeed easier to apply for self-restriction than to submit a third party to the registry. Moreover, people are becoming more aware of this possibility. Accordingly, the number of people in the register is growing. So our goal is to give people the most convenient tool for self-restraint and to promote its use,” comments Hennadii Novikov, head of the state agency PlayCity.
This year, the Cabinet of Ministers liquidated KRAIL and created the state agency PlayCity instead. Now, this agency will be responsible for regulating the gambling and lottery market and maintaining the Register of problem gamblers.
On average, 780 people were included in the register every month last year, which is 2.8 times more than in 2023, when the list was updated by about 280 people per month. The highest number of applications for self-restriction was received in April – 1,041, and the lowest in June – 524.
In the first two months of 2025, 1,719 people have already been added to the Register, which is an average of 860 per month, which is 10% more than in 2024.
It is worth noting that Ukraine currently has no clear statistics on the actual number of citizens with gambling addiction, and the figures from the relevant register do not reflect the full picture – in particular, people who play in online casinos.
The head of the newly created agency, Gennadiy Novikov, believes that the existing register fulfills its function – it consolidates information about people who are restricted from participating in gambling so that gambling organizers can verify a person and, if necessary, prevent them from playing. At the same time, it is important to understand that this registry is in a trial mode and does not have all the necessary functionality that needs to be implemented for the convenience of citizens and the market.
“We plan to create a full-fledged product on the Diia.Engine platform. The new registry will meet all the requirements of the legislation on personal data protection and other aspects, as well as contain additional functionality for gambling organizers.
The process of applying for a person to be included in the registry will be automated and much more convenient. A person will be able to add themselves to the register in a few clicks to restrict access to the game,” comments Gennadiy Novikov, Head of PlayCity.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/play-city-ludomania
