The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has confirmed that the issue of restricting military personnel's access to gambling is a priority. The implementation of the technical solution is planned by the end of autumn, reports RBC-Ukraine, citing Deputy Minister Natalia Denikeeva.

Technical implementation and timelines

Although the relevant Cabinet of Ministers resolution has already been published, the implementation of the mechanism will take up to six months. Currently, the procedure for reallocating budget funds of the state agency PlayCity is ongoing, as well as preparations for a tender to develop a special software module.

This module will ensure interaction between two key databases: the registry of persons who have voluntarily restricted access to games, and the new registry of the Ministry of Defense.

How the blocking system will work

The head of PlayCity, Hennadii Novikov, revealed the details of the mechanism's operation. The process will be fully automated and transparent for gambling organizers, but hidden from the players.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

  • The gambling organizer makes a request to the Registry of persons with restricted access.
  • If there are no restrictions in the first registry, the request is automatically redirected to the Ministry of Defense registry.
  • The system gives the organizer a final answer: "yes" or "no".

An important aspect is confidentiality. The organizer will not know the reason for the refusal — the person may have restricted themselves or fallen under the ban due to military status.

Risks and statistics

Natalia Denikeeva also presented preliminary results of a study on the impact of gambling in Ukraine. During the survey, the hypothesis about the increased vulnerability of internally displaced persons (IDPs) was refuted: their involvement in gambling does not exceed the national level.

However, the situation is different in other population groups. Among the youth and the military, the risks turned out to be more pronounced. The department does not plan to publish exact figures on the involvement of military personnel in gambling.

"People under constant stress and danger may be more susceptible to various types of addictions. Information on the scale of military involvement in gambling is sensitive, so it will serve exclusively as the basis for state policy," explained Denikeeva.

The study is being conducted by the company "Socioinform" on behalf of the Responsible Gaming Center. The final report is expected to be published at the end of August.