It may have taken a little longer than he would have liked, but President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law “On state regulation of activities for the organization and conduct of gambling.”
Legislators were able to approve a casino bill, Bill 2285D after 11 year of the gambling ban in Ukraine.
Ukraine will have eight regulated gambling sectors – online casino, retail casino, online sports gambling, retail sports gambling, slot machine venues, online poker, lotteries and totalizer contracts.
If everything goes according to plan, Ukraine can expect to pick up around $166 million from gambling tax revenue and licensing this year alone. Kyiv expects that the initiative will increase the country’s attractiveness for tourists and attract investment in hotel infrastructure.
The bill amends the law of Ukraine on advertising, implementing the restrictions for ads of gambling games. Particularly, outdoor advertising, excepting signs, is banned.
The age of the player increases from 18 up to 21 years; besides, the requirements to players and their identification appear.
The cost of a license to open a slot machine hall in Ukraine will be about $ 250 thousand, to establish a casino – $ 1 million (in Kyiv – $ 2 million), to launch an online casino – $ 200 thousand. A new state body, Gambling Market Regulatory Commission will be in charge of issuing licenses.
Initially, it was supposed to allow the opening of casinos only in five-star hotels, but in 2020 amendments were made to the document, allowing such establishments to operate in four-star hotels.
Source: Rustourismnews
