On June 4, the Verkhovna Rada Committee approved bill 2285-D on the legalization and regulation of gambling . The law is recommended for consideration in the second reading.

The bill should legalize the gambling business in the country, including online casinos. After the ban on sports betting in 2009 and the organization of online casinos in 2011, gambling went to the shadow economy.

The main provisions of the bill:

• All organizers of gambling will be required to obtain licenses. Licensing fees will be directed to a special state fund to support sports, culture and medicine. Only Ukrainian companies with an authorized capital of at least UAH 30,000,000 will be able to obtain permission.
• Land-based casinos can be organized in five-star hotels. Hotels in Kyiv must have at least 200 rooms. For Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Odessa, this figure has been reduced to 120 numbers. For other cities of the country - up to 100.
• The maximum allowable number of slot machines in Ukraine is 40,000. A total of 160 slot permits will be issued, of which 60 will go to Kyiv. Under one license, the company will be able to place a maximum of 250 slot machines.
• To open an online casino, you need to obtain a license and register a site in the UA domain zone. The cost of a permit starts from 6,000 minimum wages. The final price will be determined at a special auction.
• The maximum number of bookmakers will be limited to 800. As in the case of slots, there will be restrictions on the number of betting shops for one license - 10 pieces. The organization of lotteries will be carried out exclusively by the state.

Criminal punishment for up to 5 years is provided for organizing underground casinos and bookmakers.

In September 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky instructed to legalize the gambling business in the country. The bill passed its first reading on January 16th. It was expected that the package of laws would be adopted before the end of May, but the second reading took place only now.