Ukraine gambling bill hits parliamentary roadblock
Ukrainian president criticises MPs ordering closure of all land-based gambling
Ukraine’s hopes of establishing a regulatory regime for online gambling and sports betting have had a major setback after proposed legislation was voted down in the Ukrainian parliament.
At a plenary sitting of the Verkhovna Rada last week, 213 MPs voted to pass bill 2285-d, with the bill falling 13 votes short of the parliamentary majority required to proceed to a second reading.
However, MPs voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill back to committee stage for further amendments in a secondary vote. If the bill passes this committee stage, it will then proceed back for a repeat of last week’s vote.
Efforts to legalise egaming and sports betting in Ukraine have been underway since October, with eight versions of draft legislation being produced.
This latest bill had substantially increased the licence fees payable by egaming and sports betting operators from those being included in prior draft legislation.
Had the bill passed, sports betting operators would have been required to pay €21.6m (£18.3m) for a five-year licence and online casino operators would have had to pay €11.25m (£9m).
In addition, online poker operators would have been required to pay €450,000 (£382,000) for a five-year licence to operate in Ukraine. The bill would have also reduced the minimum age for gambling to 18 from 21.
Despite this latest setback, EGR understands from sources close to the Ukrainian government that it remains committed to agreeing legislation to allow regulated egaming and sports betting by the end of January 2020.
In the wake of the vote, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised MPs for not voting to pass the legislation, taking to Facebook to attack illegal gambling operators.
Issuing a statement on his personal facebook page, Zelensky slammed illegal operators
Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs has approved a resolution ordering the closure of all gambling clubs, lotteries and land-based gambling centres following the vote.
This included the closure of over 150 illegal gambling facilities across Ukraine and the seizure of gambling equipment worth UAH46m (£1.5m).