Legal gambling organisers were able to adapt to the war and continue to operate their businesses. Neither tax uncertainty, nor the loss of assets and customers, nor permanent restrictions have destroyed the legal gambling market. A clear confirmation of this is the ability of legal organisers to pay taxes: they have already paid more than UAH 11 billion in the first 10 months of 2024. This demonstrates the extraordinary efforts made by the business.
Legal gambling is once again proving its viability despite numerous challenges. It continues to fulfil all its obligations to the state. A simple and clear indicator of this is its solvency. The extraordinary efforts made by the legal gambling business are so noticeable that even its critics like to emphasise how much taxes licensed companies paid to the state budget this year.
However, it should be understood that these successes are possible without adequate tax legislation. And I will not stop emphasising that in this context, the adoption of the draft law 2713-d is essential, at least in terms of legal terminology. For example, it would finally allow us to clearly define the concept of GGR, which still has no unambiguous interpretation. Similarly, it would be possible to finally determine the tax rates and introduce effective mechanisms of punishment for tax evasion, which would improve the effectiveness of the fight against illegal immigrants.
This would allow avoiding double taxation of winnings and excessive tax burden on legal gambling. Reducing this burden would result in the development of the market, the entry of new companies, and thus an increase in state budget revenues. However, this is not happening. And not because of the war, but primarily because there is still no full-fledged tax legislation, major Western brands refrain from entering the Ukrainian gambling market.
And here a logical question arises: why has the issue of taxes not been resolved yet? Unfortunately, the answer does not lie in the existence of objective factors. The key to this issue is the position of Mr Hetmantsev and the Tax Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, which he chairs. For some unknown reason, there is a systematic effort to discredit the provisions of this draft law.
At the same time, while criticising a perfectly reasonable draft law for legal organisers, the committee makes no visible efforts to combat the illegal segment. Some of their initiatives even facilitate the activities of shadow operators, including lotteries. The issues of their taxation and licensing have not yet been resolved, and they continue to operate, imitating gambling, without paying any taxes or fees.
In fact, the restrictions initiated and supported by the specialised tax committee are presented as "achievements", although in reality they make the business environment more difficult for legal companies. Meanwhile, illegal operators who work without paying taxes are left out of its attention.
The de-shadowing of the legal gambling market through clear and understandable wording in legislation is a key factor in providing legal certainty, protecting consumers and encouraging investment. This creates a transparent and controlled environment for gambling organisers, allows regulators to effectively monitor the industry and promotes social responsibility, which ultimately increases trust in the market and contributes to its sustainable development. This is exactly the result we should strive for and that is why we need to finally adopt 2713-d.
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