In 2023, almost 6,500 Ukrainian officials declared more than 156 million hryvnias won in online casinos, lotteries and betting companies.
Spacesix (Cosmolot), Slots UA, VBet Ukraine, Gamedev and Parimatch are popular among civil servants. The latter, by the way, was sanctioned by the NSDC in March 2023.
Statistics showed that more than 1,000 employees won at two different locations, 214 people claimed prizes from three casinos, 50 at four, 4 officials at five locations, and another 3 at six.
The biggest win of almost 44 million hryvnias was declared by Olga Hudyk, a police officer of the patrol police of the Kosiv district police department of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. She claims that the winnings belong to her husband, who works in the same police department, although only 20 thousand hryvnias are indicated in his declaration. The couple later stated that the declared amounts were erroneous.
Such "mistakes" may be the result of tax evasion schemes, as MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak explained.
"Investigation.Info" also noted that some casinos could scatter money on random people. This was revealed when people started preparing declarations and saw unexpected receipts in their accounts.
Reasons why officials play in online casinos or place bets include negative life events, depression, seeking additional sources of income and gambling addiction. For example, Roman Svitlichnyi, judge of the Zarichnensky district court of the Rivne region, declared his son's winnings in the amount of over 70,000 hryvnias, explaining that his son played in casinos, lost and took out loans.
Vitaliy Nikonenko, the head of the personnel management department of the Izyum district state administration, declared two prizes - 335 and 118 thousand hryvnias. He noted that the state salary is not enough for the family, so they have to look for additional income.
Bohdan Butskyi, the prosecutor of the Sokal department of the Chervonograd district prosecutor's office, won 891,000 hryvnias several times. He explained that during business trips in the Donetsk region, he spent his free time playing in casinos.
Psychiatrist Oleksiy Krapyvka noted that the total number of gamblers is unknown, and official statistics do not reflect the real picture. According to him, the worst thing is when a person has debts that he cannot repay, which leads to serious mental health problems and the need to escape these problems by suicide.
