Ukraine awards first online casino licence
Former Ukrainian lottery brand Kosmolot approved by newly appointed regulatory commission while questions remain over market standards
Ukraine has its first licensed gambling operator after the country’s regulators awarded an online casino licence to former local lottery brand Kosmolot.
However, officials from the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (UGLC) only approved the licence to Kosmolot parent company Spaceix LLC at the fourth attempt, according to local media reports.
It is understood the regulator was not satisfied with the lack of complete information about the firm’s owner Sergey Vladimirovich Potapov, due to a lack of documentation being provided and insufficient information regarding the Kosmolot brand.
Although never formally regulated in Ukraine, Kosmolot operated as an instant cash lottery until it was shut down by officials from the Ukrainian National Lottery (UNL) in July 2019.
UNL is the only approved lottery operator in Ukraine and is run by the state.
Kosmolot was one of the most popular lottery brands in Ukraine, operating a national retail lottery network, electronic lottery terminals and an online site before its closure.
Under the licensing system adopted by the Ukrainian parliament in 2020, licences for online casino cost a reduced €690,000 (£600,000) while an online monitoring system to govern the market is being set up.
Operators are entitled to accept both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian players under the law, but this has not been fully confirmed by the UGLC.
The certification and technical requirements applied to operators seeking a licence in the market has also yet to be fully ratified. Whether Kosmolot was tested against any sort of certification and technical requirements criteria is unknown.
Discussing the inaugural licence award, 4H Agency CEO and senior partner Ilya Machavariani said there was lots to celebrate but sounded a note of caution about the future for the market.
“A lot of unresolved issues (for instance, the certification and taxation regime) are still there but having this first licence issue will certainly help to resolve them, or at least accelerate that process ” he explained.
At present, taxation rates for online gambling operators have yet to be decided, while the development of a Russia-style TSUPIS database for payment of taxes is still to be resolved.