Gennady Novikov quickly became one of the key figures in the gambling industry in Ukraine, although he is formally almost absent from public politics. Having headed the state-owned enterprise PlayCity, created as an allegedly transparent successor to the liquidated KRAL and a tool for cleaning up the gambling market, he gained control over billions in cash flows. Instead, society sees a familiar picture: loud statements about the "fight against the illegal market" while actually imitating actions, empty declarations with visible signs of a wealthy life, and close ties with political groups associated with the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Odessa elites.
PlayCity was presented as a tool for de-shadowing the gambling market after the discrediting of KRAL. Formally, it was supposed to be a new regulatory model that would make the market transparent and illegal casinos a thing of the past. However, this structure was headed by an official with a tellingly “empty” declaration: no declared apartments, cars, or savings.
At the same time, it was through Novikov that the leadership of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Odessa political groups came together. His wife, Yuliania Mushurova, works at the Ministry of Digital Affairs and was previously involved in the development of the “Diya.City” project. This explains why Novikov was given the position of the person who de facto controls the most money-saturated segment of the state market – online gambling.
The first real steps taken by PlayCity under Novikov's leadership showed that it was not about cleaning up the market, but about concentrating influence. The company publicly reports on "massive restrictions on access" to illegal sites, but technical checks show otherwise: platforms such as 1win, Parik24, and dozens of other resources continue to operate virtually unhindered.
The applied DNS blocking can be easily bypassed in a matter of minutes via VPN or changing DNS to Google or other public services. No system tools – IP blocking, catching and closing mirrors, comprehensive interaction with providers – are implemented. On paper, an “active struggle” is recorded, in reality – a complete imitation, which allows illegal market players to continue to earn.
Novikov’s biography and his property “profile” only reinforce suspicions of a conflict of interest. He was born in Crimea, his parents still live on the occupied peninsula and have Russian passports. Novikov himself and his wife are registered in Odessa, but in fact they use real estate and cars registered to other people. This includes a private house in Odessa, apartments in Kyiv and Odessa, as well as premium cars – Lexus and Acura.
In the declaration – zeros, in practice – the standard set of signs of a wealthy official with access to resources. Such a gap between official data and real lifestyle is a classic sign of shadow enrichment and the use of fictitious owners to disguise property.
A separate set of questions is raised by Novikov's business connections. He has direct contacts with business structures associated with the former head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Alexander Bornyakov. In particular, Novikov invested in the company "Inzhur" through investment certificates. This creates an obvious conflict of interest: an official who controls the market of digital and gambling services simultaneously has private financial interests in related areas.
As a result, the figure of Novikov does not look like a state "watchdog" on the gambling market, but as a person for whom the regulatory toolkit is a lever of influence on flows, not a mechanism for protecting public interests.
In fact, under Novikov, PlayCity is turning into its own vertical of influence. Instead of real steps towards de-shadowing, there are formal reports; instead of effective blocking of illegal casinos, there are ostentatious restrictions that are easily circumvented; instead of transparent rules of the game, there is concentrated control over billion-dollar flows in the hands of an official with an empty declaration and opaque connections.
For the state, this means that the gambling market continues to live by the laws of shadow capitalism: formally there is a regulator, but in reality there is a "shadow regulator" in the form of Gennady Novikov and the political and business groups associated with him.
