The gaming law was adopted in Ukraine in the first reading on January 16, 2020. It received 260 votes of the deputies (the required minimum amount is 226). The overwhelming majority of votes in favour of this bill belonged to representatives of the party “Sluga Narodu”.
The Cabinet of Ministers believes that casino opening, like any other type of gambling, is a great way to replenish the Ukrainian budget.
The government has calculated that the legalisation of gambling in Ukraine will bring ₴4 billion a year. Funds exceeding the planned amount will be sent to local budgets as subventions of educational and medical programs. Moreover, this sum will grow in the future.
The legal gambling business in Ukraine will completely supplant the illegal market in 2020. The shady business has become not only unprofitable but also dangerous in our time. The bill No. 2285-D prescribes high penalties, freezing of bank accounts, and confiscation of company assets.
Besides, the Ukrainian gambling industry will solve the problem of job shortages. The Spanish model was chosen as an example to follow. This country has almost the same population. The launch of the gaming industry created 120 thousand vacancies there.
As for entrepreneurs and private investments, it is possible to open a gambling business in Ukraine on a legal basis. The authorities expect an active influx of investors (especially funding received from abroad). Experts hope that well-known international corporations will work in the local market soon. In their opinion, one of the most apparent sources of profit is the opening of 5-star hotels or representative offices of popular bookmakers.
Gambling in Ukraine is legalized in the following areas:
- betting (online and in ground-based establishments);
- land-based casinos;
- online casinos;
- lottery draws;
- poker tournaments (online and in offline clubs);
- gambling clubs with slot machines.
Thanks to the legalisation of the industry, it became possible to open a casino in Ukraine, start gambling projects on the Internet, launch ground-based platforms for poker players, and implement other excellent ideas.
The Ukrainian gambling sphere will be regulated by issuing appropriate permits for gaming activities. The licenses may be received through electronic trading on the ProZorro platform.
Only those applicants who have passed the preliminary verification of documents will be admitted to bidding. The platform will charge the commission fee (10% of the total transaction amount) for organizing the honest and transparent procedure.
The list of requirements depends on the specific type of gambling that the entrepreneur plans to engage in. An applicant must fulfil several necessary conditions:
- A ₴3 million bank guarantee. It is advisable to use a deposit opened in one of the local banks.
- Placement of establishments only in special gambling zones. Speaking about casinos, they can be opened only in 5-star hotels with a certain number of rooms (for example, from 150 for the capital). The area of the institution should be 500 or more square meters (separate zones for players, personnel, utility rooms should be taken into account).
- Bookmakers and gaming clubs with slot machines should be placed in 3-star hotels (or higher category). The required area of the gambling establishment is 300 square meters (50 square meters for bookmakers). If the company plans to deal with horse races, then the betting shops should also be opened at racetracks.
- Certification of equipment used in the casino (slots, terminals, computers, servers, modems, memory cards, and other devices). The equipment should be released no later than 2019. It is also necessary to provide visitor service areas with audio and video surveillance systems.
- It is forbidden to make payments in any currency except for the hryvnia. Land-based establishments need to be equipped with a cash register, and online casinos should be connected to the payment module. As for betting, bets can be made both in cash and non-cash forms.
- The website of any gambling project should operate exclusively in the “.ua” domain zone.
- Equipment must be connected to the online monitoring system. It was developed and implemented by the government to monitor the activities of licensees in real-time. The Fiscal Service will control the timeliness of tax deductions to the country's budget through this system.
- There is a ban on advertising campaigns during sports and socio-cultural events. Persons under 21 years old are not allowed to gambling activities.
Gambling in Ukraine implies the issuance of licenses with a 5-year validity period. However, businessmen will have to pay for such permits annually.
| Gambling sphere | Cost, ₴, million |
| Casinos | From 141.7 to 566.7. The amount depends on the location of the hotel (in Kyiv or another region) and the number of rooms. |
| Online casinos | 59,1 |
| Betting | 566,7 |
| Lotteries (it is planned to make this sphere a state monopoly) | 358,9 |
| Gaming club with slot machines | 3,5 |
In addition to gambling licenses in Ukraine, businessmen need to obtain permission to place equipment for ground-based casinos. They need to pay ₴28.3 thousand for each slot machine and ₴56.6 thousand for a roulette table.
A similar approach will be used for institutions operating in the virtual space. To open an online casino in Ukraine, you need to get a license to organize poker tournaments on the Internet. It is not necessary to fulfil this requirement immediately, but it will help you expand the scope of your activities in the future.
As for betting, companies planning to open offline betting establishments should receive additional permission for each ground-based institution, as well as a standard license for bookmaking activities.
After the legalisation of the gambling industry in the country, it became much easier to buy a casino or a bookmaker in Ukraine. This profitable and promising business will bring decent income to investors and make the gambling brand recognizable and competitive.
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