Cabinet bars service members from gambling

Nation

18 June, 09:51 PM

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has restricted service members' access to gambling in both online and brick-and-mortar casinos, state gambling regulator PlayCity announced on June 18.

PlayCity head Hennadiy Novikov told reporters that checks will occur automatically when a user signs in. A special verification API will block access if a person's military status is confirmed.

Under the plan, a gambling operator’s authorization system will first query a registry of people barred from gambling. If no match is found, the system will then check a registry of active service members that the Ministry of Defense is developing. Data will be exchanged through the state information sharing system Trembita.

“If the grounds for restriction are confirmed in either registry, access to play will be blocked,” Novikov said.

“The operator will not see which registry supplied the decision.”

Novikov said gambling addiction is a threat that can affect not only an individual service member’s welfare but also overall security. He said the new control mechanism will operate automatically and largely unobtrusively for users, requiring mandatory identity verification when entering a casino’s gaming space.

Officials said the government is continuing a broader effort to combat illegal gambling. That work involves the National Security and Defense Council, the National Bank of Ukraine, PlayCity, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, and law enforcement agencies, all part of efforts to create a transparent and safe gambling industry.

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