The Commission on Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries of Ukraine (CRAIL) officially announced the approval of the opening of the first two casinos in the country. Large companies "Nebula Games" and "Primum" became licensees.

On the official website of the regulator, it is indicated that the operator "Nebula Games" has received permission to organize a land-based gambling establishment in Lviv. It will be located on the basis of the large hotel Grand Hotel Lviv, which was also licensed by CRAI in accordance with the current legislation. The total area of ​​the object will be about 500 square meters.

As for Primum LLC, this company will open a casino in the port city of Odessa. Here, on the territory of the 21-storey hotel complex Gagarinn, on an area of ​​at least 4,200 square meters, a gambling establishment and slot machine halls will be located. For redevelopment, the Commission gave the operator the first and seventh floors of a high-rise building.

It is important to note that Nebula Games LLC, which will become the organizer of the legal casino in Lviv, is a subsidiary of the Successful JSC fund. And he, in turn, owns Fjorst Element LLC, an operator that received permission from CRAIL to launch the first online casino in Ukraine.

The current Ukrainian gambling legislation has established the cost of licenses to open land-based casinos in cities. So, in order to launch a large gambling establishment, the organizing company must send 30,000 minimum wages or UAH 180 million to the budget. It is noteworthy, but for the capital of Ukraine this figure is twice as high - 360 million hryvnias.

At the same time, casinos can only be placed in hotels with 4 or 5 stars (in Kyiv - only in 5-star hotels). Also, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is now considering an initiative that will allow the opening of casinos and slot machine halls in certain suburban luxury complexes.

Recall that the Financial Committee of the Verkhovna Radawas not allowed формировать состав регулятора Украины.