More than a month has passed since the NSDC decision "On Counteracting the Negative Effects of Gambling on the Internet" was enacted by Presidential Decree #234/2024.
During this period, the Government was most active in implementing the Decree, adopting, in particular, Resolution No. 566, according to which organizers of online gambling must
- stop registering multiple client accounts for one player;
- introduce mandatory gambling breaks for each player;
- receive information from each player (after registering him/her in the online system) about the limit of funds that he/she wants to spend on gambling during a certain time (day, week, month) and set the chosen limit with the possibility of changing it no more than once a month.
The resolution also provides for restrictions on gambling advertising, in particular with the use of electronic communications, symbols of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other legally established military formations.
For its part, the National Bank of Ukraine is preparing a draft decision to restrict card transfers and introduce limits on card-to-card money transfers between individuals (so-called p2p transactions). This is being developed to prevent criminals using individuals' cards from making shadow payments, in particular to service the black market for gambling.
The parliament also joined the process of combating the negative consequences of online gambling. However, it did so in a very specific way by adopting in the first reading the government's (!) draft law No. 9256-d, which strangely included almost all the provisions of the deputy draft law No. 10101, which was withdrawn from discussion due to numerous comments from both the Main Scientific and Expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada and the professional community of the gambling market.
And now we have the second coming of a purely lobbyist legislative initiative aimed at consolidating a special state of economic activity of the lottery business under the slogans of "combating corruption and solving the issue of gambling addiction among the military." The draft law No. 9256-d has nothing to do with the content of the slogans, but is aimed at achieving a number of key competitive advantages for lottery operators.
Therefore, we can only hope that the Government will focus on this point and develop a relevant draft law, and lobbying the interests of the lottery business will no longer be promoted under the guise of initiatives to implement the President's decision.
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