By the end of the year, most people, commercial companies, and public organizations usually sum up their performance during twelve months and start planning their future.
As the largest specialized association of legal gambling market representatives, the Ukrainian Gambling Council, we will also summarize the functioning of the Ukrainian gambling market in 2022.
First, I believe that this year will forever remain in history as the year of full-scale russian military aggression against Ukraine. And everything it brought will have to be viewed through the prism of war. However, no matter how hard the russians tried to destroy the Ukrainian economy, they failed. They failed because almost everyone stood up in defence of the State. The russian invasion was met with armed resistance by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defence units with the support of local communities and domestic businesses.
From the first days of the war, Ukrainian legal gambling representatives helped the military and territorial defence units and have joined social and humanitarian projects to provide the most essential things to temporarily displaced persons.
After the first most critical months of the russian invasion of our territory, legal gambling operators in Ukraine switched from sporadic provision of the needs of the AFU soldiers and territorial defence units to regular supply. Yes, legal gambling companies, members of our Association, have established systematic volunteer work and charitable activities.
They support numerous national and local humanitarian projects and regularly purchase and donate protective equipment for soldiers, ammunition and medicines, communications equipment, drones, vehicles, and food to the front lines.
In total, over ten months of a full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Gambling Council members spent more than UAH 500 million to help people and the army. The UGC office transferred about UAH 100,000 to a special account of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In addition, this year, legal gambling operators paid license fees for conducting gambling activities. And it is even though at the end of May, CRGL decided that under martial law, holding gambling companies liable for violating the statutory deadlines for paying license fees would not be considered.
Also, despite significant financial losses suffered by the business, especially land-based gambling establishments, some of which were damaged or destroyed in areas affected by active hostilities, almost all gambling companies paid taxes on time and in full throughout the year.
At the same time, I cannot help but mention illegal operators who do not pay anything to the state budget and fraudulently try to get Ukrainians’ money. That is why today, in times of war, the fight against illegal gambling is crucial for the State.
Summing up, once again, I want to focus on the social responsibility of legal Ukrainian gambling as the continuous support of the State in times of war!