Despite the horror that Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought to our country, we continue to work and help the State to the best of our ability. Like all our fellow citizens, we hope to regain peaceful life in our country as soon as possible and become fully operational again in the near future.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has turned out to be a disaster for our State and an extremely challenging test of strength and unity for the West. At the same time, this war has really united our society. Our political leaders, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other security forces, business, public organizations and volunteers rallied quickly and gave a fitting rebuff to the enemy, defeating him on the military, economic and diplomatic fronts. The victory is already ours. Its recognition is a matter of time.
In this crisis faced by our country, it is crucial that everyone continues to work, despite all the difficulties. Today, every company and organization must work to ensure economic performance, so that the State receives taxes and can pay pensions, provide social guarantees to the population, finance the army, and help citizens most affected by the conflict.
For our part, we also continue to work and help the country within our abilities. Today, only one of our psychological support hotlines has been closed. We plan to resume this activity after the end of the war. We continue to work in other directions, taking into account the current situation in the country, as well as our financial and human resources.
1. Jobs. President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Paying salaries to people, even if the company can’t operate as it used to, is to protect Ukraine.” The UGC office took this postulate as the basis for its activities, so we have preserved jobs for each of our employees and we continue to pay taxes to the state budget. From the first day of the war, our principled stand was to pay salaries and preserve jobs.
2. Volunteering and humanitarian work. Even though everyone has their work duties, our employees are actively involved in volunteer and humanitarian projects. Some operate in information field, providing up-to-date and reliable information to national and foreign media on the current situation in Ukraine; some are directly involved in the humanitarian activities of volunteer centers and non-profit organizations helping civilians and the army.
3. Financial aid. We support our people and our army. As part of meeting its social obligations, the UGC Office transferred UAH 30,000 in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is worth noting that these funds are the contribution of our Association’s Office. I will come back to the assistance provided to the State by each of our members, legal gambling operators, a little bit later.
4. Media. Of course, due to objective safety issues, our activity in the media is not as intense as was the case before the war. However, we continue to inform the media about the role of gambling business in providing support to our country.
I am sure that the war will soon end with Ukraine victorious and we will finally go back to living in peace. All economy sectors will begin to recover, and each of us will contribute to the development of our industry. I believe that with the help of the Ukrainian Gambling Council and our members we will be able not only to rebuild the gambling industry in Ukraine, but to lead it to a qualitatively new level.
Anton Kuchukhidze, Chairman of the Ukrainian Gambling Council, exclusively for the Ukrainian News