New Ukrainian Gambling Bill Analyzed

Gambling in Ukraine is to be legalized soon, and two experts have analyzed the new gambling bill. A former state assignee of the AMCU, Agia Zagrebelskaya, and journalist Yuri Nikolov publicized their opinions during a press conference.

According to the two experts, the gambling bill lacks some important aspects that should have been included.

First, while the bill sets the licensing fees, information on taxes is left unclear. As for the licensing fees, there will be two kinds - operators will pay fees for opening a casino and for operating 20 slot machines in their venue.

Another issue is that according to Zagrebelskaya and Nikolov, it seems that the government’s bill was created by business groups that do not have enough significant experience with gambling legislation.

Zagrebelskaya noted that the regulation should be stricter and more thorough, specifying which places are suitable for gambling venues, which gambling machines can be used, maximum loss, tax rates, etc.

The bill has already been filed in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. According to the government, the legalization of the gambling business will add up to UAH 5 billion to the country’s budget.