On November 22, at the press centre of the Ukrainian News Agency, the leaders of the Ukrainian Gambling Council, together with the Info Sapience research agency, presented the results of the first independent public opinion survey “Attitudes of Ukrainians to Gambling”.
The findings turned out to be quite interesting.
1. Only 7.2% of respondents stated that they would like to participate in at least one type of gambling in the future. This indicates that Ukrainians are not a “gambling nation” and the data that almost every second Ukrainian citizen will become a gambling addict following the legalization of gambling is fake. According to the survey, the key objective of the legalization is to attract foreign players and develop gambling tourism. So, the reform is progressing in the direction planned from the start.
2. 43.2% of Ukrainians agree with at least one argument in favour of legalizing gambling in Ukraine, thus refuting the fake argument that almost 80% of Ukrainians are categorically against legalization of gambling.
3. The respondents aged 18-34 are the strongest advocates of gambling. 50.6% of them support at least one argument in favour of legalization. Due to the nature of this topic, the indicator of support for legalization among other age groups is also quite high, namely 43.4% for citizens aged 35 to 54 and 37.5% for respondents aged 55 or older.
4. Among the respondents willing to gamble in the future, the following types of gambling were the most popular:
• online poker – 2.7%;
• online casinos – 3.2%;
• casino – 3.4%;
• slot machines – 4.1%;
• betting – 4.5%.
Such surveys are extremely important, since they make it possible to obtain true analytical data. They can be carried out by public authorities, legal gambling operators and the population to better understand the process of gambling legalization in Ukraine and to avoid manipulation by opponents of the reform and representatives of illegal gambling operators.
REFERENCE UGC is an all-Ukrainian specialized gambling public association seeking to unite the entire legal gambling industry to ensure sustainable and effective development of the gambling business in Ukraine. UGC acts as the main platform for communication between the State and the entire legal gambling industry. Today, the number of UGC members is 22 legal gambling operators, gambling organizations and media representatives.