Ukraine to legalise its gambling industry by 2018
The government of Ukraine promised to legalise its gambling industry and start earning from revenue by next year.
Ukraine.- The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine announced its intentions to legalise the gambling industry in order to boost the local economy and generate revenue. The Ministry sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund to detail its plan.
Ukraine is currently asking the IMF boss Christine Lagarde to grant them a US$17.5 billion assistance to reform the country’s economy. Whilst they already received US$1 billion last week, Petró Poroshenko, president of Ukraine, along with the Prime Minister and National Bank authorities, said on the letter that the legalisation of the industry would contribute additional revenue to the budget no later than 2018.
The first attempt to authorise gambling modalities in the country happened in 2015, when lawmakers presented a draft legislation. A year later, the government said that the gambling market could bring the state an additional US$1.5 billion in revenue, but the licenses fees were too high and operators didn’t push for the authorisation. Last year, industry specialists created the Ukranian Gaming Industry Association with the intention to help the government create a legislation that would allow international companies to operate in the country with appropriate standards.
Finance Minister Aleksandr Danilyuk reported in February that the country remained positive with its intention to pass a legislation. Furthermore, whilst they regretted missing approximately US$379 million in what could have been tax revenue, it is expected some pressure from operators to decrease the tax rate.
