Ukraine's campaign to adopt new gaming tax legislation has ran out of time.

According to reports, Ukraine lost its final opportunity of the year to approve a piece of legislation that would have resolved a number of unresolved tax problems and finalised the new gambling environment in the country of eastern Europe.

A source said that the Verkhovna Rada, the 450-seat unicameral parliament of the huge country, was scheduled to vote on Bill 2713 in November after the idea was accepted by the Finance Committee. This initial objective, however, is said to have been postponed because the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky gave higher priority to other matters, such as the nation's ongoing response to the coronavirus outbreak and escalating military tensions with Russia, which is Ukraine's neighbour.

The last repair

The government of Ukraine, which has a population of over 41 million, is said to have enacted a law in August 2020 ending a long-standing ban on the majority of gambling types, including internet gambling. However, a number of crucial technical and fiscal elements that were supposed to be definitively implemented by the adoption of Bill 2713 were absent from this law.

baffling interruption:

At its most recent meeting on Friday, the penultimate before the legislature adjourns for the Christmas and New Year vacations, the Verkhovna Rada allegedly did not debate Bill 2713. As a result, 2022 is now allegedly set to begin without the law having been submitted to a vote, and there are no indications as to whether the matter will be a priority for legislators once they return their work on January 4.

Expert assessment:

Bill 2713 purportedly intends to replace Ukraine's present "triple lock licencing fee" system with a 10% flat tax on all gaming earnings, according to Ilya Machavariani of gambling consultancy 4H Agency. The analyst reportedly added that this new regime appears to have the support of the dominant Servant of the People political party, despite the fact that a protracted evaluation of all gaming tax proposals has consistently delayed its passage.

Concern continues to exist:

The Ukrainian Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) authority granted its initial iGaming licence to operator Spaceiks LLC in February despite the lack of any specific technical and system requirements, so this confusion should reportedly not be new to observers of the gambling industry in Europe's second-largest country. Since the country lacked a comprehensive regulatory structure, this ruling allowed the online casino at Cosmolot24.com to start providing a variety of games, such as slots, roulette, and baccarat, to adult domestic gamblers.

Machavariani allegedly said...

"We are constantly keeping an eye on the situation regarding the laws governing gambling in Ukraine, and today we were anticipating it to eventually develop into something more significant than yet another postponement. Unfortunately, the time allotted for Bill 2713's hearing in the House has run out, thus the vote on the bill won't take place until two weeks from now. The likelihood of that currently is not good.