The Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy unanimously approved draft law No. 9256, which strengthens control over the gambling business. It provides for the liquidation of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) and the strengthening of requirements for the advertising of gambling games.
The MP from the "Voice" party and first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Ukrainian Parliament) committee on finance, tax and customs policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced this.
Now the Parliament has to vote on the draft law.
Requirements for gambling advertising
According to the draft law, gambling advertising is prohibited in any audiovisual and audio media, regardless of the technology of their distribution, as well as in all online media, print media and publications (except for specialized publications devoted to gambling). They cannot be advertised on vehicles, by means of external/internal advertising or with the help of promotional activities.
Advertising of gambling games, as well as their image or mention, may not be placed on any goods (items), except for those related to the organization and conduct of gambling games. Such content may not be distributed on the Internet. It is not yet possible to offer any direct or indirect reimbursement of costs for access to gambling.
Who is prohibited from participating in advertising:
- people who have not reached the age of 21;
- volunteers/military personnel, or people whose appearance imitates volunteers or military personnel;
- popular people (images and mentions of popular people, heroes of movies, TV and animated films, authoritative organizations cannot be used in gambling advertising);
- athletes and medical workers, as well as people whose appearance imitates athletes or doctors.
- It is forbidden to use topics related to the containment and repulsion of armed aggression of the Russian Federation during the period of martial law in the advertising of gambling games. It is forbidden to use any patriotic appeals and symbols in order to create a misleading impression about the connection between participation in gambling and repelling Russian aggression.
Violation of the requirements is subject to sanctions, including the revocation of a license.
Participation of military personnel in gambling
During martial law, people whose access to gambling is restricted are entered in the Register of military personnel. That is, restrictions on the participation of the military will be transferred to the government, which will be able to regulate the situation.
Blocking sites
To prevent illegal gambling, the regulator will monitor the Internet to find websites and mobile applications that provide access to gambling without the appropriate license.
A person who, through a website and/or mobile application, organizes, conducts or provides access to gambling without a license, is obliged to limit access to this site in Ukraine within three working days upon request. The same should be done by the hosting service provider and/or digital distribution platform on which the website is hosted.
The authorized body will send the decision on the requirement to restrict access to the website where gambling is conducted without a license to the National Center for Operational-Technical Management of Electronic Communication Networks of Ukraine to block domain names.
According to the draft law, the bank and/or other payment market participants must apply a risk-oriented approach, as well as indicators of suspiciousness of financial transactions and refuse payment services in favor of people who conduct illegal gambling in Ukraine.
Why this bill is important
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 machine halls 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, which is a state regulator dealing with the 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 "Economichna Pravda" 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 March 29, an electronic petition appeared on the website of the Office of the President of Volodymyr Zelensky about restricting the operation of online casinos during martial law in Ukraine. In just a few hours, the petition gathered the 25,000 signatures required for its consideration by the president.
The author of the petition, a soldier of the 59th brigade Pavlo Petrychenko claims that there are rare cases when military men addicted to games spend all their money on casinos and then take microloans, driving themselves into a debt pit. They also pawn drones and thermal imagers, which harms not only them, but also their fellow citizens.