Ukrainian Gambling Council (UGC) represents 80% of the legal gambling market in Ukraine, combining powerful expertise and professional potential in this area.
From the very beginning, UGC has focused on establishing a dialogue between legal gambling business representatives and the State. Today, this synergy makes it possible to effectively form the gambling market’s consolidated position and contributes to the development of clear and understandable business rules in the field of gambling.
Despite the fact that achieving this goal requires many years of systematic work, the Ukrainian Gambling Council can already speak of its initial success.
UGC members
Powerful brands in the field of organisation and conduct of gambling are among UGC members, namely Parimatch Ukraine, Shangri La Kyiv, Slots City, First, PIN-UP.UA, Cosmolot, Volna 4444, PokerMatch Ukraine, and FavBet, GGPoker, VBET.
A number of public entities, that is, Ukrainian Gambling Association PA, Ukrainian Gambling & Betting Association, Gaming Association of Multimedia Entertainment of Ukraine PU, and All-Ukrainian Union on Bookmaking Development PA (UUBD) have joined the UGC. The specialized printed magazine Azart and an international specialized exhibition of the equipment and services for gambling and entertainment business “Gaming Industry Expo” are also our members.
Honorary Chairman for the Development of Gambling Market at UGC is Boris Baum, one of the frontrunners of the gambling legalization in Ukraine and the First Deputy Chairman of the CRGL Advisory and Expert Council.
By uniting gambling operators, representatives of the state and public sectors, as well as specialized media, UGC acts as an effective communication and advocacy platform contributing to the integrated development of the legal gambling market in Ukraine.
UGC and the legislative process
UGC’s expertise is also applied in the legislative process related to the gambling market development. UGC specialists prepared and submitted 142 recommendations to the draft order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine “On Approval of the Regulation on Implementing Financial Monitoring by Business Entities Conducting Lotteries and/or Gambling.” The above recommendations are now being reviewed by the Ministry of Finance.
UGC also supports the basic provisions laid down in draft law No.2713‑д “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Taxation of Income from the Organization and Conduct of Gambling and Lotteries” adopted on the first reading. At the same time, this draft law contains a number of aspects that should be improved in order to make Ukraine’s gambling market more attractive for national gambling operators and gamblers, as well as for foreign investors and gambling tourists. In particular, more work will be needed to minimize taxation for foreigners and increase the amount of taxable gambling winnings for Ukrainian citizens.
UGC representatives also participated in the preparation of amendments to the draft licensing terms and conditions for lottery operators. In total, 15 amendments were submitted, and most of them were approved.
International realm of UGC’s activities
Despite the relatively short period of UGC’s operation, we can already talk about a certain level of international recognition. In particular, UGC participated in the SBC Summit Barcelona which took place on 21–24 September in Barcelona. During the summit, more than 450 representatives of the largest international gambling companies, government regulators, associations and experts discussed the future prospects for the international gambling industry.
We should also mention a specialized panel discussion dedicated to the creation and development of the Ukrainian gambling market, in which the Chairman of the Comission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL) Ivan Rudyi, First Deputy Chairman of the CRGL Advisory and Expert Council Boris Baum and UGC representatives participated. In the discussion, the speakers talked about the opportunities for foreign investors and the current activities aimed at improving the conditions for gambling business in Ukraine and social protection of players.
On 13–14 October 2021, UGC also acted as a strategic partner of the largest international conference and gambling exhibition in Eastern Europe and CIS countries “SBC Summit CIS”. Such partnership status granted to our association of legal gambling representatives in Ukraine once again confirms the importance of the Ukrainian market for the development of the international gambling industry and underlines the foreign investors’ interest in Ukraine.
Also, UGC is a member of the exclusive international group of gambling operators, SBC Leaders. Membership in SBC Leaders is an opportunity to share experience and implement diverse joint projects with leading companies and gambling operators.
UGC’s social responsibility projects
Understanding the needs of the legal gambling market, which is now actively developing in Ukraine, we see that one of the core activities is the implementation of social responsibility programs.
Compliance with the responsible gambling principles serves as the basis of partnerships between the State, legal gambling operators and society. That is why at the end of September this year, as part of our social responsibility policy, we launched a program to provide free online legal advice on countering the spread of gambling addiction.
Both players who need it, as well as their close relatives having certain questions on gambling addiction, may receive free legal counseling.
Promoting the legal gambling market development is UGC’s key goal. We are sure that it is the consistent and systematic work in different areas that can ensure the creation of a modern civilized gambling market providing business with money, the State with taxes, and players with a higher level of social protection.