Ukraine creates national gambling regulator

Legislators have formally created the regulatory body that will oversee the sector following the legalisation of gambling.

Ukraine.- The Cabinet of Ministers has formally created the new regulatory body that will be responsible for licensing and overseeing gambling in Ukraine following its legalisation last month.

The Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries will begin operating in November.

At an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet, legislators granted the new body powers over licensing and responsible gaming.

The regulator will be responsible for licensing, for upholding transparent and understandable conditions for doing business and for restricting gaming among those who suffer from gambling problems.

A working group headed by Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister for digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, will develop the necessary bylaws for the regulator’s launch.

The group will draw up regulations for the Commission and for the creation of an open register with data on gambling operators. It will also develop licence conditions and create an “online monitoring system in accordance with international standards.”

Fedorov said: “The launch of the Commission will prevent the operation of illegal gambling establishments under the guise of state lotteries.

“The legalisation of gambling will stimulate the Ukrainian economy, attract investment, create additional jobs and create a significant source of additional revenue for the State Budget of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a law to legalise gambling in Ukraine on August 11 but the country’s parliament has yet to decide on the tax regime for operators.

The country had banned all gambling apart from lottery in 2009.