Ukrainian Ministry of Finance is ready to support any law on gambling legalization

During the committee meeting of the Ukrainian Parliament the Minister of Finance, Alexander Danyluk said that the Ministry is ready to support any draft law, regarding legalization of gambling business in Ukraine.

Mr. Danyluk noted that Ukrainian gambling should be brought out of the shadows, underlining: “I am ready to support any version of the draft law, which will pass through the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.”

Later, on the 23rd of September at the VIII International Economic Forum in Kharkiv, the First Deputy Finance Minister of Ukraine Oksana Markarova stated that there is a need for legalization of gambling for obtaining additional budget revenue.

During the meeting Ms.Markarova told that the law will be designed to meet the needs of all participants of the gambling market, including law enforcement. The speaker also said that there are prerequisites to register such a document before the end of the year.

OlexanderYaroslavskiy, one of the Kharkiv investors and owner of Kharkiv Palace -hotel with a casino, has also spoke at the forum.

“When I was building the hotel (Premier Palace Hotel Kharkiv - author's note), one of the conditions was the construction of the casino hall. I’ve invested $15 million and we’ve built an amazing hall. It is not used ... Bring the whole business outof the shadow. We are talking about billions of dollars for the budget.”

Natalie Jaresko, the Minister of Finance of Ukraine, also speaks in favor of gambling legalization. In a press conference, she said that the Ukrainian budget may be annually enriched byabout $5 billion due to gambling business tax liabilities.

Slotegrator would also remind that the Ministry of Finance has made another attempt to obtain the approval for issuing licenses to lotteryoperators from the “concerned authorities”, since according to the Ministry representatives, it is they that are not giving the green light for obtaining new permits on lottery activities due to discrepancies with the legal framework.However, the Ministry of Finance didn’t note who these “concerned authorities” are.