At Last, The Hour Arrived: The President Of Ukraine Approved The Legalization Of Gambling

Article by : Eva Reed Aug 17, 2020

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Updated: Aug 12, 2022

After numerous discussions and a significant number of amendments, bill 2285-D finally found the required number of votes. The majority of the Verkhovna Rada supported it. As a result, this law went directly to the table of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

After a detailed study, the country’s president signed the long-awaited law allowing casino operators to conduct gambling business in Ukraine legally. It is noteworthy that right after the signing, one of the most popular Eastern European platforms, Parimatch shortly announced its desire to obtain a license to conduct gambling activities.

This bill will regulate offline and online casino operators, which run their businesses on Ukraine’s territory. According to the law, land-based gambling houses can be located exclusively in hotels.
The majority of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy supported the final publication of the law. According to it, the number of license fees could be over 900,000 pounds sterling. Moreover, the license must be renewed every five years.

The license cost for bookmakers will be about 2 million pounds. Operators who will be involved in the provision of online poker services will have to pay licensing fees of £640,000.

Even though the licensing fees seem quite realistic, there is still a fly in the ointment in this story. The fact is that while the online monitoring system has not entered into force in Ukraine, the cost of licenses for operators can increase up to 3 times. Moreover, according to many experts, this situation will last about 30 months, starting from the launch of the gambling market.

An equally important part of this law is the ability to advertise the services of online operators on the Internet. Moreover, gaming platforms can now use third-party marketing, including affiliate services, to promote their brands on the local market. This was prohibited in the first edition of the law. However, after consultation with the relevant committee, such prohibitions were lifted.

Perhaps one of the bill’s main limitations is the ban on running gambling activities by residents and citizens of Russia. Moreover, Russian citizens cannot be the shareholders and ultimate beneficiaries of companies. According to the bill, the organization and provision of gambling services can only be carried out by legal entities officially registered in Ukraine.

It bears reminding that Zelensky has repeatedly supported the legal activities of gambling houses in Ukraine at one time. Moreover, after taking office, the President proposed his own version of the bill, which would legalize the activities of Ukrainian gambling houses.

After most deputies did not support this bill in the Verkhovna Rada, the head of state ordered the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to conduct mass checks of all operators.

As a result, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine managed to close more than 150 illegal ground points and confiscate equipment worth more than £1.5 million in just one night.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine also ordered the head of Ukrainian tax inspection to check all issued licenses for companies that carried out activities for the sale of lottery in Ukraine. All these steps lead to a quick closing of all illegal operators offering their services under the popular lottery brands.

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