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Ukraine does not leave headlines of world news since February
2022, when russian troops outrageously invaded a sovereign state in
the very center of Europe. After Ukraine managed not only to
withstand the invasion, but also to regain control over about 40%
of the territories initially captured, talks have started about the
post-war development of the country and investment opportunities
inevitably coming along with that.
Among the most promising industries which are expected to
rapidly grow, gaming industry is definitely a leading one. Ukraine
officially legalized gaming back in 2020. Since then, the
newly-established Gambling and Lottery Commission granted more than
100 licenses for running casinos, online betting, poker, and other
activities. Importantly, an average term of processing the
documents and granting the license did not exceed just 10-15
days.
Even the ongoing war did not completely disrupt this business.
At the toughest times, 80% of gaming services providers were forced
to temporarily shut down their businesses due to safety reasons.
The industry has now recovered for up to 72% of the pre-war period.
As on 24 February 2022, there were 8 casinos at the major hotels
and 52 slot machine halls in Ukraine. Today we have 7 casinos and
45 slot machine halls, 9 of which have been relocated from the
regions of the country most affected by the military action.
Even in these circumstances, about 10 new licenses were granted
in 2022. This fact gives rise to a cautious optimism regarding the
future of gaming in Ukraine in 2023 and onwards.
Ukrainian government is set to make this industry even more
investment-friendly. In particular, the Ministry of Digital
Transformation recently announced that they are working on the new
legislation and technical solutions automatizing the licensing
process. A company applying for a license will have to upload a
package of documents online, and if those satisfy the established
criteria – a license will be granted automatically. That
said, such procedure would be fully transparent and eliminate any
corruption risks.
In addition to improvement of the licensing regime, contemplated
amendments are meant to completely revisit the approach to
administering of taxes paid by gaming services providers. GGR is to
be administered through the automatic system, and the respective
taxes are to be written-off from the accounts automatically. This
would relieve the businesses from excessive paperwork and make
their interaction with tax authorities much rare and less
painful.
What should be taken into account when considering entry to
Ukrainian market is that there should be no russian entities or
individuals in the corporate structure. Otherwise, it would be
impossible to get the license, or it would be revoked if the
regulator uncovers a connection to russia later on.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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