As a legislative body, the parliament is supposed to pass laws that should improve the situation in the country and work to increase the level of well-being of citizens. This is its purpose in the system of separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, which is generally accepted throughout the civilized world, including Ukraine.
However, sometimes, due to the activities of certain lobbying groups, draft laws are introduced in the session hall that are contrary to the interests of both citizens and the state as a whole, and their adoption and entry into force (as laws) can significantly worsen the current state of affairs.
One of these documents is the "anti-gambling" draft law No. 9256-d, which was adopted by the Parliament in the first reading on April 24, 2024. Despite the rather neutral and non-threatening title - "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Organization and Conduct of Gambling and Lotteries" - the draft law contains a number of corruption components that could negatively affect both the gambling market and the country's economy as a whole.
To prevent this from happening, the Ukrainian Gambling Council, a non-governmental organization that unites most licensed gambling organizers, asked the NACP to check the draft law No. 9256-d for corruption.
This appeal is the result of an analysis of the provisions of the draft law by our experts, whose conclusions indicate the following facts.
1. Draft law No. 9256-d contains provisions designed to destroy the legal gambling business and return the gambling market to the monopoly ownership of lottery operators, for which purpose it clearly spells out such discriminatory provisions against other gambling market participants as
1.2. prohibiting advertising of gambling business organizers and creating an exception for advertising of lottery operators;
1.3. withdrawal of lottery operators from the jurisdiction of the CRGL to the yet-to-be-established "central executive body that implements the state policy in the field of lotteries."
1.4. providing lottery operators with the opportunity to legalize illegal online casinos under the guise of lottery distribution sites;
1.5. preventing international business leaders from entering the lottery and gambling markets of Ukraine.
2. Most of these discriminatory provisions were "transferred" to the draft law No. 9256-d from the draft law No. 10101, the consideration of which was suspended due to the constructive position of the professional community and the public, which became an example of high-quality public advocacy of state and market interests.
Unfortunately, less than six months after the blocking of one "anti-gambling" draft law, we have its reincarnation in the draft law 9256-d, the consequences of which will be devastating for the industry and extremely negative for the state budget. This must be prevented while there is still time.
So, I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize once again that:
- By creating the right conditions for the functioning and development of legal gambling, the state ensures a controlled and open environment for players, allowing them to gamble in a safe environment;
- compliance with the principles of responsible gambling is inherent and mandatory only for licensed gambling market organizers and helps prevent problems with pathological behaviors, such as gambling addiction (ludomania);
- legal gambling brings revenues to the state budget through taxation of gambling business, which contributes to the development of social programs and infrastructure of the country.
Therefore, the protection of legal gambling contributes to the interests of the state.
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