Ukraine regulator receives nearly 200 licence applications in Q1 of 2024

Ukraine’s Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) received 194 licence applications related to gambling during the first quarter of 2024.

From the 194 applications, 152 licences were granted by KRAIL in Ukraine. 138 of these were licences for gaming machines, while three were for the provision of gambling services.

Additionally, nine licences were issued for gaming tables. There was also one licence each for online casino and a gaming table with a roulette wheel.

Two applications were unsuccessful due to insufficient information on the necessary documents, while KRAIL also made a decision to refuse one licence application.

Ukraine to consider banning soldiers from gambling

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced he would consider banning armed forces from online gambling after a petition from a Ukrainian soldier.

The plan for restrictions was revealed during the Ukraine president’s evening address to the country’s citizens on 2 April.

The government is now preparing to “tighten control” over the online gambling industry in the country in order to “help protect the interests of society”.

The soldier’s petition aimed to draw attention “to the harm that the gambling business causes to the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian society”, such as putting them into debt.

The soldier called for gambling and access to online casinos to be banned for military personnel by martial law.

Ukraine’s KRAIL cracking down on black market

Ukraine has made a concerted effort in the last couple of years to clamp down on black market operators. In August 2023, KRAIL said nearly three-quarters of unlicensed operators blocked access to their websites in the country having been contacted by the organisation.

According to KRAIL, 72.3% of sites halted operations in Ukraine following intervention by the regulator. This covered the period from 25 January 2022 to 8 August 2023.

In February this year, Ukraine’s Economic Security Bureau seized UAH700m (£14.8m/€17.3m/$18.6m) from an unnamed leading gambling operator for tax evasion.

Yet, despite KRAIL’s work in Ukraine, its future is up in the air. In May 2023, the deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, submitted draft law proposing KRAIL is dissolved and replaced with a new executive body.

Fedorov highlighted the regulator’s struggles with issuing gambling licences in a timely manner.

KRAIL operates as a collegial body with a chairman and six members. Its meetings, including on licence applications, are only valid if five members are present.

However, after the country’s invasion by Russian armed forces, some KRAIL members were called up for military service. This made it difficult to continue KRAIL meetings and led to delays in regulatory work such as approving licence applications.

Original Article