The legalization of gambling in Ukraine can bring an estimated Hr 5-9 billion (between $200 and $360 million) into state coffers through taxation, according to Finance Minister Oksana Markarova.
The minister in charge of economy predicted such levels of income for the country during an October 25 interview with the lb.ua news site, and said such revenues were based on conservative estimates by experts.
During the interview, Markarova also said that a gambling law has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, and that revenues from the legalization of gambling in Ukraine can be included in the country’s 2020 draft state budget.
“According to our conservative estimates, this is Hr 5-9 billion of the resource, which can be fully mobilized if everything works,” Markarova said during the interview.
The new law on gambling was finalized and then submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in October 2019. It aims to legalize the gambling business accross Ukraine, create and implement an effective state policy in the field of gambling regulation, as well as ensure the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens. It also aims to attract investments into Ukraine.
On September 15, Markarova, together with Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, presented a draft of Ukraine’s 2020 budget and sent it to parliament for approval. Honcharuk said that the parliament will keep working on the document and have it finalized by November 2.
Gambling already takes place in Ukraine, both online and in unofficial and largely untaxed venues throughout the country, but much of it is illegal due to a ban in place since 2009.
Some venues operate under the pretense of lottery offices and started to open up in 2012, when the Ukrainian parliament, then controlled by the Party of Regions of Ukraine’s runaway former president, Viktor Yanukovych, relaxed the gambling ban.
The current law features no effective mechanisms to regulate holders of state-issued lottery licenses and allows license holders to open and operate gambling halls under the false guise of lottery businesses.
However, the new parliament is likely to change that. In August, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that gambling will be legalized in Ukraine.
During a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in September, Zelensky gave the cabinet draft laws to prepare with strict deadlines. Legalizing casinos in Ukraine was among the draft bills.
Read also: Despite ban, shady gambling business rolls on in lottery offices.
