On the eve of the May holidays, gambling market experts discussed the process of launching the gambling market in Ukraine during the round table.
Borys Baum, First Deputy Chairman of the Advisory and Expert Council at KRAIL (Gambling and Lottery Regulation Commission), opened a discussion on the current realities of the gambling market of Ukraine. The expert stressed that the de facto gambling market in Ukraine has already been launched. "For example, there is such a company LLC "Billionare Casino Company" – a land-based casino in the Kiev hotel "Intercontinental", they received licenses for equipment, on all tables (16 tables), "machines" in their process. According to my information, immediately after the May holidays, they will open. They went through this process, albeit very difficult. But this fact happened, let's wait quietly on May 10," Borys Baum said.
The expert also stressed that in April 2021, KRAIL had a plan to fill the budget of UAH 307 million, and they fulfilled it. "We know for sure that foreign operators are waiting for clarification on taxes and understanding of what is with the second license. Because there are no questions with the equipment. The budget is fulfilled. Now about UAH 300 million will be received from the same operators on the same equipment," says Borys Baum.
At the same time, he stated that the local Ukrainian market will be about 20-25 players. Currently, 15 licenses have been issued, documents are submitted to the Joker online casino. But there are few ground operators (less than ten), although their number will increase every month, because many hotels are carrying out reconstruction, apply for additional "stars".
"If amendments to the Budget Code are not adopted, then there will be no other revenues, except for license payments, they will be in the amount of about UAH 1.5 billion, as we said. Everyone understands that it is urgent to accept changes before taxation," the expert emphasizes. In any case, the profile draft law No. 2713-D is already under consideration in the Parliament.
Viktoriia Degtyareva, an online gaming consultant, told about the opinion of foreign investors regarding the development of the gambling market of Ukraine.
"The legalization process is below the expectations of many operators and businesses. I want all processes to be easier and faster. There have been a lot of promises that have not yet been fulfilled. Everyone keeps abreast to determine the main inaccuracies that still exist, and only then enter the market. There are still no changes to the Tax Code (ggr rate settlement, removal of the triple license price, setting a taxable amount for individuals), it is not clear. These are the main barriers that stop many international operators from making a final decision about entering the Ukrainian market," says Victoria Degtiarova.
The issues of developing a occupation classifier for casino spirobitniks and the principle of responsible play were also discussed. For example, the head of Ukrainian Gambling & Betting Assotiation Mykola Melnyk developed a methodology on the maximum distance of gambling establishments from schools.
"We must work to improve the reputation of the entire market. To show that the legal market that we are building together has nothing to do with those ideas about the gambling business that have developed over the past 10 years in the media and in people's minds. We want to show that the market being built is a completely different market. Social responsibility is one of the segments of the image component of the gambling market," said Ihor Mkievsky,head of the All-Ukrainian Association of Employers in the field of recreation and entertainment.
Source: BlogExpert
