Ukraine has repeatedly declared its movement towards the family of civilized countries. Our Constitution stipulates the aspiration to become a member of the European, and in June previous year this aspiration was formalized into the status of a candidate for EU membership. Strengthening of the single internal market, the elimination of administrative barriers and the simplification of the legislative framework are the main business regulation principles of the EU.
Legal organizers of the gambling market in Ukraine hope that the government will continue to implement the above-mentioned EU principles in all business sectors.
On their part, representatives of the gambling business community, in order to implement European principles in practice, propose to create a broad dialogue platform in the "Government + Business" format to organize a better communication process.
They presented their proposals for saving the legal gambling sector in Ukraine in a joint appeal to all representatives of the government agencies, who are involved in the formation and implementation of the general state gambling policy.
This document, in particular, states that despite all the difficulties and problems caused by the war (destruction of buildings where gambling establishments were located, destruction of energy infrastructure, occupation of part of the territory and seizure of company assets by raiders, etc.), all license obligations of legal gambling companies for 2021 year were fulfilled, and they continue to fill the budget with license fees and tax revenues in the current year.
However, companies cannot make payments in advance, as provided for by peacetime provisions. Accordingly, taking into account the scale and consequences of the war against our state, representatives of the legal gambling market propose the following during martial law:
– Amend Resolution No. 314 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and increase the terms of payment of license fees to 180 calendar days.
– For the period of martial law, establish the license fee to organize and conduct gambling in gambling establishments of casinos for the city of Kyiv in the amount of 18,000 (eighteen thousand) minimum wages and 9,000 (nine thousand) minimum wages for other settlements (except the city of Kyiv).
– Envisage that for the period of martial law, license fees for slot machines shall be paid at the base rate regardless of the terms of introduction of the State Online Monitoring System. In particular, Part 3 of Chapter XI of the industry specific law shall not be applied.
– Establish the possibility of payment by the organizers of license fees for every three months of the validity of the license.
The business community is confident that the fulfilment of these proposals will help Ukraine preserve the legal gambling sector, and legal gambling companies will continue to fill the state budget!
It should also be noted that the lack of dialogue between the business and the authorities and behind-the-scenes decision-making regarding significant changes in the working conditions of legal gambling business organizers may lead to decreased interest of both domestic and foreign companies in the operation in Ukraine.
I hope that the authorities will pay attention to this risk and the development of legal gambling sector in Ukraine will continue.
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