Advio, a service operating under Fractal (part of Artem Borodatyuk’s Netpeak Group), has come under scrutiny for its alleged role in distributing gambling advertisements within the Ukrainian Telegram segment. Sponsored posts promoting online casinos are appearing to local users despite strict legal prohibitions, while regulators and law enforcement agencies have yet to take formal action regarding potential violations.
Although gambling advertising is strictly regulated under Ukrainian law, traffic arbitrageurs continue to promote gambling platforms across popular Telegram channels. While Netpeak serves as the official Telegram Ads reseller in Ukraine, gray-market traffic is being distributed through services like Advio.
Arbitrageurs utilize Telegram’s internal currency, Stars, along with TON cryptocurrency to bypass standard moderation and geographic targeting restrictions. This mechanism allows sponsored casino posts to automatically appear at the bottom of popular channel feeds without the channel owners’ consent. Furthermore, Ukrainian channel owners receive no share of this ad revenue, as Telegram’s official creator monetization program remains unavailable in the country.
«Targeting restrictions can be bypassed using the internal currency Stars. In this case, geo-limitations no longer apply, allowing ads to be shown freely to the Ukrainian audience.»
Ukrainian legislation imposes heavy penalties for illegal gambling promotion, with fines for violations reaching up to UAH 4.8 million. Despite apparent breaches of advertising regulations, the sector regulator, PlayCity, has reportedly failed to intervene in the activities associated with the Advio and Netpeak ecosystems.
Legal experts and public observers are urging the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) to evaluate the situation. Analysts note that selective inaction by public officials could warrant criminal assessment, specifically under Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding official negligence.