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“PlayCity” unjustifiably annulled the casino license of “BILLIONAIRE”: court overturned the decision due to “insignificant” evidence from the SBI 🎲⚖️
The Dnipro District Administrative Court issued a ruling on the lawsuit brought by Favbet VIP Casino LLC (brand “BILLIONAIRE”) against the State Agency of Ukraine “PlayCity.” The plaintiff sought to cancel the regulator’s decision to terminate the license for organizing and conducting gambling in casino establishments.
This was reported by the Telegram channel “Sudom po skhemakh” with reference to case No. 160/15429/26.
🚨 Circumstances of the case and the regulator’s position
In May 2026 the Agency “PlayCity” conducted an unscheduled off-site inspection of Favbet VIP Casino LLC and issued decision No. 209-R to annul the license.
The basis for this was a letter from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) in the context of a criminal proceeding. In it, law enforcement claimed that the ultimate beneficial owner of the company, Andriy Matyukha, was allegedly connected to residents of the Russian Federation, had a Russian taxpayer identification number (TIN), was registered in Moscow, and owned real estate in occupied Crimea.
🛡️ Plaintiff’s arguments and the court’s position
Representatives of the casino provided the court with documents that fully refute the regulator’s and the SBI’s allegations:
• Citizenship and residency: Andriy Matyukha is solely a citizen of Ukraine, pays billions in taxes to the Ukrainian budget, and has no legal ties to the Russian Federation.
• Official responses: The absence of Russian citizenship is confirmed by certificates from the State Migration Service of Ukraine and related extracts.
• Inapplicability of the grounds: The mere fact of the existence or attribution of a foreign state’s TIN is not evidence of residency under the rules of the Tax Code of Ukraine and international conventions.
The court noted that “PlayCity” made the decision to annul the license essentially “on automatic pilot” based on the SBI’s letter, without conducting its own objective verification of the facts and without giving proper consideration to the plaintiff’s official documents. Furthermore, the SBI is not an intelligence agency and does not have the authority to collect intelligence abroad or independently determine individuals’ residency status for civil-law and administrative procedures.
⚖️ The court’s verdict
On 09 September 2026, the Dnipro District Administrative Court fully satisfied the claims of Favbet VIP Casino LLC, declared unlawful and annulled the decision of the State Agency of Ukraine “PlayCity” dated 29 May 2026, No. 209-R, on the termination of the license.
Telegram publication