Ukraine to legalise gambling by end of year
Reversal of 2009 ban could see remote licences issued as soon as the spring
Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers has approved a draft law legalising gambling in the country, with the bill set to be passed by parliament before the end of the year, eGaming Review understands.
The law legalises and regulates both online and land-based gambling for the first time since a 2009 ban, and could see licences issued by spring 2016.
“There is a high probability the draft shall be passed by the parliament by the end of 2015,” Alina Plyushch, gaming lawyer at Kiev-based law firm Sayenko Kharenko, told eGR.
“We believe that if the draft is passed by the end of 2015, the first licences are likely to be granted in spring 2016,” she added.
The draft law sets out a regulatory framework for lottery, casino and sports betting and provides for the creation of a special gambling authority, the National Gambling Service, to be coordinated by the Minister of Finance.
While foreign operators will in theory be permitted to apply for a licence, they will need a base in Ukraine and to hold servers in the country.
The current proposed tax rate is 20% of gross gaming revenue, although this will be combined with hefty licensing fees of 1m for online casino, 300,000 for online poker and 200,000 for online sportsbook, and is subject to further debate.
However, the draft could still undergo amendments after lobby group Ukraine Gaming attacked the plans in a lengthy Facebook post describing the law as “isolated” and “written without the benefit of gambling expertise”.
“The International Gaming community has not been consulted in forming the draft law. Hence the draft law is not to international standards,” the group said in the post.
It also criticised the lack of an independent regulator and a failure to account for other verticals including bingo and daily fantasy.
But despite the problems, Plyushch pointed to Ukraine’s population and fast-growing mobile internet network as reasons for the market being “potentially attractive for gambling operators”.