Premier Palace Casino officially entered liquidation proceedings after the Kyiv City Commercial Court ordered the shutdown and dissolution of the casino operator, concluding that the company no longer had the financial capacity to recover. The ruling, issued in May 2026, opens a 12-month liquidation process involving one of the most recognized casino venues in the Ukrainian capital.
The casino operated inside the historic Premier Palace Hotel located at Taras Shevchenko Boulevard 5–7/29, Kyiv, under the entity LLC Casino Premier Palace, registered in 2019 with statutory capital of UAH30 million. Corporate records identify Yurii Vasylovych Ustymenko as director of the company.
The court determined that recognized debts exceeded UAH380 million, equivalent to approximately US$8.6 million, and appointed Petr Kostyantynovich Reveruk as liquidator responsible for managing assets, coordinating creditors and executing court-supervised payments.
Hennadiy Novikov
The dispute unfolded under the Law of Ukraine No. 768-IX “On State Regulation of Activities Regarding the Organization and Conduct of Gambling”, approved in 2020 to legalize and regulate casinos, online betting, poker and slot machines in Ukraine. The legislation requires state licenses, AML/KYC compliance, fiscal controls and ownership restrictions connected to Russian interests.
Premier Palace received licenses in 2021 issued by the former Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, known as KRAIL, including permits covering casino operations, gaming tables and slot machines. Those licenses were later revoked. Since 2025, Ukraine replaced KRAIL with the new state regulator PlayCity, headed in 2026 by Hennadiy Novikov under supervision of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine led by Oleksandr Borniakov.
Oleksandr Borniakov – minister of Digital Transformation
Although the case does not report direct criminal convictions against the casino, the central violation involved financial insolvency and the accumulation of regulatory, fiscal and private liabilities. The liquidation also comes as Ukraine intensifies controls over ownership structures, gaming finance and offshore-linked operations amid broader concerns involving money laundering risks and Russian-linked business influence in strategic sectors.
Ukraine’s illegal gambling market is estimated to generate nearly US$1.4 billion, pushing authorities to strengthen digital monitoring, illegal operator blocking systems and financial traceability under the new PlayCity regulatory framework.
