From the first day of the full-scale invasion of russian troops into Ukraine and despite significantly reduced activities due to destroyed infrastructure, legal gambling operators have been helping the State fight against the aggressor.
First of all, it helps financially, namely by:
· paying to the budget (license fees and taxes);
· providing charitable support to the AFU, territorial defence units, and refugees;
· creating specialized projects to raise funds for the State’s humanitarian needs.
In total, legal gambling paid hundreds of millions of hryvnias to the state budget or transferred them to the NBU specialized accounts, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Social Policy.
The above are predominantly license fees. For instance, according to CRGL, as of July 1, the state budget of Ukraine has already received UAH 746.94 million in the form of license fees for organizing and conducting gambling and for issuing and conducting lotteries.
It is 63% of the planned annual amount stipulated by the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2022”, indicating the extremely high social responsibility of legal gambling operators paying in advance.
Let me remind you that most of such companies are members of the Ukrainian Gambling Council (UGC):
· In January this year, Vbet Ukraine LLC paid UAH 117 million for a license to organize and conduct betting activities.
· Parimatch LLC paid UAH 108 million for the second year of the license to organize and conduct betting activities and UAH 23.4 million for a license to organize and conduct online casino games.
· Pokermatch.ua LLC paid UAH 6 million for the second year of the license to organize and conduct online poker games.
· Primum LLC paid UAH 36 million for a license to organize and conduct gambling in casino establishments.
· Ukr Game Technology LLC paid UAH 23.4 million for a license to organize and conduct online casino games.
· At the end of June, Spaceiks LLC paid UAH 23.4 million for the second year of the license to organize and conduct online casino games.
It is worth noting that in April the national regulator decided to impose penalties for non-compliance with the deadlines for paying licenses for the next year, as specified by law.
However, many companies failed to take the opportunity to defer payments but rather decided to transfer funds to the budget in advance. This once again confirms the companies’ intention to work in Ukraine.
UGC members also systematically work to help the AFU, territorial defence units, internally displaced persons, and refugees. Such companies as Cosmolot, PokerMatch, GGPoker, Parimatch Ukraine, Favbet, PIN-UP Ukraine, and Vbet Ukraine systematically purchase and provide our fighters with communication technologies, cars, fuel, drones, and ammunition, support national and regional humanitarian projects, and conduct various charity tournaments and fundraising events to help our State.
Over four months, UGC members have already raised and donated to humanitarian aid a total of almost UAH 100 million! Such high social activity of legal gambling representatives proves that gambling companies see their future in our country, believe in Ukraine’s victory, and do everything to bring it closer.
Steady and timely tax payments and other mandatory budgetary payments are the best help from businesses during the war.
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