New re-regulated market
Ukraine shut down its regulated gambling market in 2009 after a fire at a slots parlour in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk resulted in nine deaths. Following the tragedy, only state-owned lotteries were permitted
Ever since 2015, the regulation of gambling in the country has been sought after. In April 2017, the government pledged to bring back legalised gambling by 2018. The country had to wait until August 2020 to see Ukraine’s newest gambling act signed and February 2021 for it to issue its first licence.
Although KRAIL has already issued licences, the country has not passed its gambling tax bill yet, which was sent to second reading last week.
The new regulations, drawn up by KRAIL, define responsible gambling provisions for operators under the new re-regulated market. Among the rules is a major restriction on bonuses for existing players.
A major restriction
Operators are “obliged to refrain from providing players with any bonus payments, and/or providing goods or services through incentives, the provision of which is directly or indirectly due to the losses of a player in a certain game”.
Through these regulations, Ukraine’s regulator showed its intention to reduce gambling problems by making sure that all players must have the “option to both self-exclude and set deposit limits” as well as be allowed to see how much time they have spent gambling.
Finally, operators must also train their staff to recognise the definition and possible signs of problem gambling.