The economic problems that came with the pandemic of the virus made the necessity of implementing income-generating laws more urgent than ever before. Currently, the main priority of the Cabinet of Ministers is to deal with the land market and Ukrainian gambling industry. Providing an official Parimatch license and making significant adjustments to the legislation of the casino market stands out as a controversial yet essential step.
The urgency is indisputable – the Ukrainian economy was short of over 2.3 million USD as of March 2020. The spread of the virus also makes it more challenging to make any moves, as the rules and restrictions get stricter every day.
Changes to legislation in the gambling market
Some experts point out that the newly appointed president and his office have already made a first unsuccessful step towards legalization of gambling in the country. The main obstacle turned out to be shadow-like forces, which actively used various media sources to slander potential changes in the legislation.
One of the bright examples of the case is the defamation campaign against Ukraine’s biggest betting platform – Parimatch. The campaign claimed that the bookmaker consulted the government on the way the industry has to be legalized, to make the changes in their favor. However, one of experts pointed out that if you see the same negative post on multiple pages with low reputation, you can be sure of the non-existent objectivity of it. Moreover, the fake news and articles may try to deceive readers into trusting them as “investigative pieces”.
Urgency of the matter
The COVID-19 pandemic is a strong catalyst for the existing economic issues of Ukraine. Even though the government might resort to the new IMF credit of 5 billion US dollars, the chances of getting a new reform for the gambling industry are present.
The most interesting draft law at the moment is 2285d. It brings new hope for the supporters of the gambling legalization in Ukraine. They believe that this might be the most efficient way of getting income for the shortage budget of the country.
The benefits of the potential gambling legalize
While it is for sure a debatable topic, it is difficult to argue that Ukraine can have some obvious advantages from legalizing gambling:
- Setting fixed prices on licenses will force gambling platforms to pay. Therefore, the budget of the country will receive an almost instant income;
- Considering the economic crisis in Ukraine, developing and implementing draft law 2285d is one of the most efficient ways to generate a fast income for the budget;
- The platforms that operate on the territory of the country in the shadow and neither pay taxes nor purchase licenses will have an option to provide their services legally to avoid any risks. Thus, the chances of generating additional income from them are high.
