Ukraine shifts gambling oversight to Ministry of Digital Transformation
In the first regulatory change since the war in Ukraine began six months ago, gambling remit switches from Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Digital Transformation
The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers has announced that the responsibility of the igaming industry has been transferred from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
This is the first piece of industry-related governmental action that has been undertaken since the war began six months ago.
Ukraine is home to many igaming tech hubs, development studios and support networks for operators and suppliers and was massively hit by the Russian invasion of the country in February.
Ilya Machavariani, CEO of 4H Agency, spoke exclusively to EGR on what this change in responsibility could mean for the regulatory landscape and the possible reasons why the government has made this decision.
He said: “On the face of it, the transfer of responsibility for the industry from Ministry of Economy to Ministry of Digital Transformation does not create any immediate consequences for the regulatory landscape of the Ukrainian gambling market. However, if we are to dig a bit deeper then we can make two conclusions the sum of which might hint at the potential future of the market.
Machavariani noted the shift in responsibility could be as a result of shortcomings in the Minister of Economy, and that the Ministry of Digital Transformation would be a better suited department to manage the industry
“First conclusion is that the Ministry of Economy was not really involved in the regulatory affairs with regard to the gambling industry. They were involved at the stage when the certification issue was under active discussion, and that is probably it. In other words, one of the reasons for this change might be that the Ministry of Economy was not fully adhering to its responsibilities to oversee our industry.”
He went on to add that the second conclusion concerns the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s status within the Ukrainian government.
He added: “This Ministry and its head Mykhailo Fedorov are in good standing in Ukraine as they managed to initiate and complete a lot of reforms for the country, including the launch of the Diia App that allows Ukrainians to access online more than 50 government services; creation of the special zone for IT companies (called “Diia.City”) with the favourable conditions for doing business, which has attracted a lot of IT businesses and was a huge success before the war.”
Machavariani shared his view that this could be considered a good sign for the industry especially as the “Ministry of Digital Transformation will be actively involved in the regulation and administration of the gambling industry in Ukraine”.
Ukrainian operator Parimatch recently revealed to EGR as to why it shook up its senior management team as co-CEO Maksym Liashko became the sole CEO of the company.