Ukraine President Wants Casino Bill Approved Before December
The Ukraine currently allows only lotteries to operate in the country as all other forms of gambling are illegal. The President Volodymyr Zelensky is very keen on changing this scenario as he wants his government to pass a bill that will permit casino gambling across the country.
The Ukraine is looking to boost its economy and opening up the country to casino style gambling is one way of generating significant revenue. The country imposed a gambling ban back in 2009 and since then all forms of casino gambling has been outlawed, creating a nice demand in the market due to the absence of casino games for over a decade.
Market analysts estimate that legalising brick and mortar casinos in the country could generate upwards of €170 million per year when the industry is in full swing.
This is a significant amount of revenue for Ukraine in addition to the other benefits that the casino industry will bring with it. These include the creation of thousands of jobs, boost in tourism numbers and on-going revenue for the government which will come in the form of casino application fees, licensing fees and gaming tax revenue.
President Zelensky who has recently come into power met with the Verkhovna Rada – the Ukrainian Parliament and law enforcement to discuss the implications of legalizing casino gambling. The President is convinced that this is the best way forward for the country and has called on his Cabinet Ministers to come up with a proposal by October 1, 2019 and have the same approved by December 1, 2019.
The Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk and Oksana Markarova who is the Minister of Finance have been tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the draft bill. The President also adopted two other Ministers to oversee the rollout of this gambling bill.
Best Way To Stop Illegal Operators
Although gambling is banned in the Ukraine, illegal operators have entered the country and run a very lucrative black market operation. There is no precise way of estimating just how much this illegal gambling market generates per year. The authorities are aware of illegal gambling operators but find it difficult to crackdown and stop them from operating.
By legalizing casino gambling, locals will be able to enter the premises of five star hotels where casino gambling is expected to take place. This should significantly reduce the business of black market operators as bettors will no longer have to turn to them when casino gambling becomes legalized.
Carolyn DuttonAuthor
Carolyn is our legislation expert, with a background in law she is able to cover the current state of gambling around the world
