Huge market interest
Such rapid development of online gambling is currently prompting huge market interest exactly to this sphere of Ukraine’s legalised gambling. At the same time, land-based gambling should be of no less interest for a potential investor. Besides, Ukraine’s tourist attractiveness has noticeably increased due to its beneficial position of being at the centre of Eastern Europe, moderate prices for accommodation and leisure activities, as well as its authentic culture.

As Covid-19 will start to slow down, experts expect the real revival of the tourism sector in Ukraine. So any investments in land-based casinos, betting, and slot halls are about to bring considerable revenues in the years to come.

New Law
It legitimizes the main types of gambling, both offline and online: casino, bookmakers, poker games, offline lotteries and slot machines. The licences will be valid for five years.

Online casinos
It was where the gambling market in Ukraine set off. The law does not set any specific requirements for the operator’s premises or its actual presence in the territory of Ukraine. The one limitation is that only a Ukrainian company may be its operator. All online casinos must have a .ua domain name and a registered website through which they operate.
Despite such low requirements, the Cosmolot’s owner obtained permission only at the fourth attempt. Previously the Gambling and Lotteries Regulation Commission refused three times to consider this company’s application.

Casinos
The law distinguishes casinos in the capital from those in other cities. Casinos in Kyiv can thus be opened in five-star hotels, and in four- and five-star hotels with a hundred or more rooms in other cities of Ukraine. Casinos can be located in suburban recreation complexes with an area of ​​at least 10 thousand square meters with a five-star hotel. The government also decided to create the so-called “special territorial gaming zones”. These can be areas whose socio-economic development needs to be stimulated.

The law also introduced an investment license, i.e. when the construction costs are counted as future fee payments. It can be obtained by building a five-star hotel (that will house a casino) with 200 rooms in Kyiv or with 150 rooms in other cities. That makes the operator exempt from paying for the license, valid for ten years.

Betting shops
Bookmaking is a kind of betting. It is allowed to bet both online and offline. However, the requirements for land-based bookmakers are quite strict. The law allows betting in three-, four- and five-star hotels with more than 50 rooms in Kyiv and more than 25 in other cities. The bookies’ minimum area should be 50 square meters. Betting shops can also be located at racetracks to bet on horse races.

Slot machines
Slot machines can be located in casinos based on a casino license and in slot machine parlours bases on a separate license. Like bookmakers, slot machine parlours can be located only in three-, four- or five-star hotels with 50 rooms or more in Kyiv, and 25 rooms and more in other cities. One license entitles the operator to install 250 gaming machines.
However, certain limitations apply. It is forbidden to locate slot machine parlours in places where less than 10,000 people live, and in places that are located closer than 500 meters to educational institutions. In addition, slot machines manufactured before 2019 cannot be installed.

Poker
A license is needed to provide online poker. Offline poker in Ukraine is not a game of chance but a sports game. A poker club can therefore operate legally if accredited.

Poker clubs must play fair and by the rules, and their owners must report their profits. The All-Ukrainian Sports Poker Federation (USPF) certifies poker clubs.

Future perspectives
Given that the issuance of licenses has begun, it is expected that operators will be able to enter the market quickly. A week after the first grant, two other licenses were approved for online gaming operators, and Parimatch received the first license for betting activities in early March.

So far, licenses have been largely issued for operators of online activities, as the government still needs to pass secondary legislation, including technical regulations for gaming equipment, before casino and slot machine hall owners will be able to apply for licenses. This legislation is expected to be adopted relatively soon, and these types of licenses will begin to be issued shortly thereafter.

When deciding to enter the market, foreign investors may choose whether to build their own establishment, operate entirely online, or partner with existing hotels and resorts. In some cases, operators may benefit from lower license fees if establishments are located outside of Kyiv, including in ski resorts in the Carpathian Mountains or along the Black Sea Coast. Developments in this sector are happening quickly, and Ukraine is expected to soon become an important market in the gaming industry that will be of interest for foreign market players.