The government of Ukraine will tap the UK for experience in gambling regulation as it looks to overhaul its oversight of the sector.
The parties will discuss striking a balance between effective oversight and overregulation, the Ukrainian media outlet Sport.Ua reported.
Gambling protection and new requirements for operators are also on the agenda, with Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Natalia Denikeeva, set to hold talks with the UK Gambling Commission.
Ministry officials say they hope to strike a memorandum of cooperation agreement at their next meeting.
Ukraine, UK Planning Talks: More Reforms Incoming
Kyiv officials have also indicated they may pursue further reforms, just over a year after creating PlayCity, the new gaming regulator.
Officials say that PlayCity, currently an affiliate of the Digital Transformation ministry, could soon transition to “direct government oversight.”
The same media outlet reported that a potential transfer of authority to the Ministry of Finance is under discussion.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian media outlet UNN reported that the Responsible Gambling Center (RGC), a leading NGO, will travel to several European destinations to seek pointers for Kyiv regulators.
RGC officials will travel to Tallinn on September 7 to learn about Estonian regulatory approaches and methods for preventing gambling addiction.
The NGO will meet with the Estonian ministries of Social Affairs and Finance, as well as the National Institute for Health and Development.
RGC officials will also hold a series of meetings with government officials, European gaming operators, and mental health professionals in Lisbon, Portugal.
Gambling Poses a ‘Serious Challenge’ to Ukraine – Survey
After a survey of 3,164 Ukrainians, the results of which were published last week by the aforementioned Ministry of Digital Transformation, found that 15% of respondents “consider themselves to be gamblers.”
“Every third respondent noted that they do not know a single person who gambles,” the ministry said in a press release.
Three-quarters of respondents said gambling is “a serious challenge for the country,” even though only 5% said they had gambled in the last year, and only 2% admitted to wagering in the last month.
Seven percent of respondents, however, said they had “lent money to friends to gamble in the past year.”
The ministry said its survey also demonstrated that “corresponding risks were more pronounced among young people and military personnel.”
The results, it added, will “form the basis for further [policy] decisions,” with more research to follow.
The survey comes after reports that the government is poised to ban serving military personnel from using online casinos.
Ukrainian gambling sector bodies attempted to lobby against the proposal earlier this year. In March, the Association of Ukrainian Gaming Operators called a potential ban “a boon to illegal operators.”
PlayCity, the national gambling regulator, says it will use a new system to “verify access to gambling platforms.”
The system will check online casinos’ verification data against the Ministry of Defense-operated registry of military personnel.
If it detects the user trying to access the site is a soldier, it will automatically bar them from logging in to the casino platform.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian social media personality Anna Alkhimova won an appeal against PlayCity.
The regulator had accused her of illegally promoting an online casino on her social media pages.
