After eleven years of gaming ban in Ukraine since May 2009, one of the big achievements of the newly elected president Volodymyr Zelensky has been passing the gaming legislation from parliament voting after a long lobbying period. It is not a secret to anyone that Volodymyr Zelensky had a strong motivation to create resources for the budget deficit which he has taken over by creating income from license fees and taxes from gaming operations. In fact, illegal gaming businesses have existed in Ukraine since the gaming ban – only the government did not gain any tax income from it for the last eleven years. It was not an easy task for Zelensky to force most of opposition to vote for legalization of gaming in Ukraine. He had to shut down 5300 illegal gaming operation overnight for all the illegal operators to understand new pathway has been drawn for Ukraine’s future gaming business.
Even though there have been many draft law proposals, Ukraine has chosen the globally well practiced “casinos in resorts or 4/5-star hotels” version as the final one. By this law, in Kiev, hotels with not less than 150 hotel rooms and in the rest of Ukrainian cities not less than 100 hotel rooms are allowed to apply for a license to operate a casino. This brings questions like;
- Has Ukraine got enough 4/5-star hotels to fulfill the demand?
- How many of these 4/5-star hotels have got available space to be in accordance with required standards?
- Has Ukraine got suitable infrastructure for new hotel 4/5-star investments?
Let’s try to answer those questions step by step.
While Kiev hosts ten five-star hotels and 33 four-star hotels, this number for all of Ukraine would be thirty five-star hotels and 326 four-star hotels. Since some of listed hotels are not willing to allow gaming operations in their territory because of traditional, religious or ethical reasons, other hotels simply do not have extra space to fit a casino operation on their premises. As many of the remaining ones desiring to operate gaming business themselves, it unfortunately does not give much option for foreign investment and operators in the Ukrainian market. So we can say one of the biggest problem at this stage is finding available, suitable spaces in accordance with the rules for anyone who does not own their own hotel in Ukraine. In spite of the Ukrainian government providing privileges to those who would like to invest in tourism and build their own hotel facilities to be able to open a casino with their operations, there is neither enough infrastructure nor available land near city centers in most main cities of Ukraine at this moment. It would be hard to find such an investor under the shadow of Covid-19. It was suggested to president Zelensky earlier to take Russia and/or Kazakhstan as sample and allow casinos to open only in indicated area/areas of Ukraine like Mariupol, but it was not accepted. It surely would rocket the development and tourism of the area but would make access to gaming a bit more difficult.
What we are sure of is that some of the hotels are already upgrading their facilities to be able to fit within the Ukrainian gaming legislation while some operators have been keeping their rented space in hotels and their casino equipment in their storage since the gaming ban and patiently waiting for legalization day to arrive.
In short, there are operators who are ready start their operations as soon as the government will start issuing the licenses. As we all know that being first in the market is always a big advantage, we can say it is maybe worth waiting such long time.
Even though the parliament voted “YES”, Ukrainian president Zelensky has ratified the legislation and it was published in the official newspaper, unfortunately the law is not in practice. The committee that is supposed to control the whole process from issuing the license, regulating the control measures, controlling if the required standards are provided, fair taxing etc. has not yet been established. So no licenses have been issued to any operators and legal gambling has not started in Ukraine.
Ukraine being an attractive travel location for many tourists, known for its beautiful nature, rich historical background and of course its hot night life, casinos – as soon as they open their doors — will create extra spice in Ukraine. Because of the pandemic causing Georgian, North Cypriot and Bulgarian casinos to shut down, additional interest in Ukrainian gaming business will be created.
We all hope these disputes to be solved and a necessary committee to be established as soon as possible so that a new era in the Ukrainian gaming business can start.
Twenty-nine years of extensive experience in Gaming Operations and F&B Service Business with excellent Emotional Quotient and leadership skills. Remarkable experience in pre-opening projects and casino set-ups (five casino set-ups with its bar, restaurants and night clubs in three continents and four countries). Re-engineering process of the existing operations regarding cost analysis and P/L tables linking them with business operations such as supply, production, sales, service, logistics, accounting and finance to improve organizational development to control and decrease the costs and increase the overall profit in any sector. I possess excellent interpersonal and customer relation skills with problem solving attributes. Experienced in human resources, employee relations and staff welfare. Qualified in developing the skills and capabilities of staff members using positive feedback and quality training techniques. In same time capable of overseeing cage, slot and accounting departments.
Aydin Guney has over 30 years of extensive experience in Gaming Operations, Food Service Business and Night Club management with excellent PR and leadership skills. Experience in tracking customer progress, continuously updating company’s daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly performance and possess accurate reporting skills. Possess excellent interpersonal and customer relation skills with problem solving attributes. Experienced in human resources, employee relations and staff welfare. Qualified in developing the skills and capabilities of staff members using positive feedback and quality training techniques. In same time oversee cage, slot and accounting departments.
He is qualified for;
Development and implementation of aggressive, challenging business plans
- Contract negotiating skills.
- Managing operation budgets and P&L.
- Strong analytical decisions making and risk-taking skills.
- Experience in recruitment and retention of top performing work force.
- Team building.
- People and time management.
- Excellent PR skills and guest service.
- Development of successful marketing campaigns.
At the moment he is managing 3 branches where he is the founder of the projects; Casino Personnel recruitment agency for qualified casino personnel, Hotel Personnel recruitment agency and TD Booking for show busines arrangements and bookings.
