A debt of nearly UAH 5 million for casino advertising has appeared in the Unified Register of Debtors

The first enforcement proceedings for failure to pay fines on time for illegal casino advertising have appeared in the Unified Register of Debtors. In particular, two proceedings related to unpaid fines imposed by the state agency PlayCity—amounting to UAH 4.8 million and UAH 24,000—were opened against blogger Karina Kuchmenko (Simbochka) and recorded in the register in early January of this year.

As a reminder, it is possible to check whether enforcement proceedings due to debts are open and to obtain a certificate confirming their absence on the page of the Unified Register of Debtors.

This is the first active enforcement proceeding currently listed in the register. Before that, the Unified Register of Debtors contained entries related to the recovery of fines imposed by PlayCity against two more bloggers: Diana Levonivna Movsesian (Instagram account @xl.rusalochka.life) and Maksym Andriiovych Lavrynenko (Telegram channel “Trukha”). However, in both cases, the opening of enforcement proceedings was refused. In response to an inquiry from Opendatabot, PlayCity explained that this was due to procedural reasons, including formal requirements for documents and the opening of court proceedings to appeal the relevant decisions.

Overall, 13 bloggers and 1 media outlet, namely the Telegram channel “Trukha,” have received fines for advertising online casinos. None of the imposed fines have been paid voluntarily so far. PlayCity explains that the law provides up to three months for voluntary payment from the date the sanction is imposed. For some of the decisions, this period has not yet expired.

At the same time, some of those involved have decided to defend their position in court. Currently, 7 bloggers and one media outlet are appealing PlayCity’s decisions. In most cases, administrative proceedings have been opened, and the cases are now under judicial review. However, no court rulings on the merits of these disputes have been issued yet.

«We are consistently building enforcement practice for holding violators accountable for illegal advertising of gambling and will continue to respond to all identified violations within our authority. We are confident in the legality of the sanctions imposed and expect to defend our position in court», 

— comments Hennadii Novikov, Head of the state agency PlayCity.

Reminder: Last year, PlayCity stepped up its efforts to combat illegal advertising of gambling in Ukraine’s information space. This concerns violations of the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” as well as the Law “On State Regulation of Activities Related to the Organization and Conduct of Gambling.” These laws define both the restrictions on gambling advertising and the penalties for violating them.