Investigation.Info: Officials declared more than 156 million hryvnias of online casino winnings

In 2023, almost 6 500 government officials declared more than 156 million hryvnias of winnings in online casinos, lotteries and betting companies.

Slidstvo.Info reports this after analyzing the declarations of employees.

Most often, officials declared winnings from the following LLCs: "Spaceix" ("Cosmolot"), "Slots UA", "VBet Ukraine" and "Gamedev". And also from the Parimatch gaming company, which in March 2023 was sanctioned by the National Security Council.

In total, from more than 6 500 declarations with winnings:

• more than 1 000 employees reported winnings at two different locations;
• 214 people claimed prizes from three casinos;
• 50 officials won in four gambling firms;
• four "successfully turned their backs" in five places at once;
• three employees won at once in six computer programs.

Olha Hudyk, a police officer of the patrol police of the Kosiv district police department of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, indicated the largest winnings — almost 44 million hryvnias — in her declaration.

She noted that this is a win for her husband Oleh Hudyk, who works as an operational officer in the same district police department. However, his declaration shows a profit of only 20 thousand hryvnias.

The policeman himself told reporters that he had not played at all during the year and that the prizes declared by him and his wife were a mistake.

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak noted that such "mistakes" could be the result of a tax evasion scheme.

"Some casinos scattered money on random people. This became apparent already when people started preparing the declaration and saw some receipts that were never officially entered on the card," the MP explained.

The situation with the gaming business in Ukraine

In July 2020, the Verkhovna Rada legalized the gambling business in Ukraine. The law legalizes the activities of casinos, bookmakers (in particular on the Internet), slot machines and the organization of online poker. The parliament included roulette, playing cards, dice and slot machines as casino gambling. In September 2020, the Parliament created the Gambling and Lotteries Regulatory Commission (GLRC) — this is a state regulator that deals with licensing and regulation of gambling in Ukraine.

In 2023, Ukrainians spent almost 400 million hryvnias in online casinos every day, or more than 12 billion a month, as reported by Economic Truth with reference to the National Bank. This industry most often affects military personnel, who then suffer from gambling addiction.

After this publication, lively discussions of the problem with gambling began in society, in particular among the military. On April 20, 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree restricting the operation of online casinos. And in June, the National Bank banned the use of credit funds for gambling.