Ukraine has made the pledge in an effort to assure the IMF that the country is worthy of a financial assistance package worth US$ 17.5 billion. The legalisation of gambling would enable the country to tax such activities and generate more income, with analysts estimating that Ukraine could bring in up to US$ 1.5 billion per year.
Ukraine operators have not been able to offers any gambling or betting services since prohibition was introduced in 2009.
In 2015, the country introduced a draft gambling bill that proposed opening the market to land-based casinos, sports betting and online gaming, but legalisation of such activities is yet to take place.
It is not yet clear as to what forms of gambling Ukraine plans to legalise by 2018. Meanwhile, plans for transforming Ukraine’s annexed Crimea peninsular into a ‘gambling zone’ for Russia are moving forward.
Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told the Tass news agency that the zone is designed to avoid international economic sanctions imposed on Russia after it seized control of the territory.
"There are certain arrangements that will
make it possible for investors to bypass the sanction. I will keep quiet about
such secrets for now; nobody will agree to invest in this project if there were
doubts this plan might not work,” Aksyonov said.
Source: GMB / iGaming Business
