At least 37 gambling establishments are expected to open in Ukraine

Since February, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries has been issuing licenses. The range of the gambling resurrection can already be estimated: at least 37 different establishments will open in 17 cities in Ukraine.

At present, 257 license applications have been submitted for various gambling businesses (casinos, online casinos, game rooms, bookmakers, online poker companies, gambling services), gambling tables, and slot machines. Of these, 151 applications have received approval, while 106 have been rejected.

Casinos will open at five-star hotels in cities with high tourism potential. The leader in the number of establishments is Kyiv, where 12 gambling establishments will open. The list of cities with the highest number of gambling parlors also includes Kharkiv (5), Lviv (3), and Odesa (3).

Gambling Business Map in Ukraine

The casino at the Gagarinn Hotel in Odesa, which plans to install more than 300 slot machines and gambling tables, has the highest number of licenses for gambling equipment. In other cities, the numbers differ significantly: usually, large casinos have licenses for no more than 50–70 pieces of equipment.

To open a casino in Kyiv, one needs to purchase a license worth UAH 360,000,000 (about USD 13 million), which is valid for five years. In other cities, the license will cost UAH 180,000,000 (USD 6.5 million). In addition, a casino must pay from UAH 540,000 to UAH 1,050,000 for each gambling table and UAH 36,000 for each slot machine annually.

The license for a slot machine room, which is the most popular, costs UAH 45,000,000 (USD 1.6 million). Just like a casino, it must pay annually for each slot machine.

Casinos and slot machine parlors often buy licenses for bookmaking, too. Permission to open a betting parlor costs UAH 180,000,000 (USD 6.5 million). To open a betting shop, one needs to pay UAH 180,000 for each annually.

The license for an online casino will cost UAH 39,000,000 (USD 1.4 million).

As of now, Ukraine has already issued licenses to:

• 9 casinos
• 11 online casinos and one online poker company
• 37 game rooms
• 37 bookmakers
• 33 roulette tables
• 60 card tables
• 1,097 slot machines

It is noteworthy that licenses for opening a gambling establishment are issued twice: a hotel and a company that organizes gambling in this hotel purchase them. Therefore, the identical address usually appears in several licenses with different owners.

«Ukraine has a perfect geographic location to attract foreign gamblers, especially from neighboring countries where casinos are banned. However, there are few suitable facilities for casinos in Ukraine.

The legal gambling market is very young. The regulations of its operation have just been or are still being created and are undergoing testing in real conditions. For example, there are still questions about the taxation of the industry, which makes it hard to evaluate its business attractiveness. The enactment of Law 2713-d should provide answers.

Casinos in Ukraine can and must be socially responsible and operate according to the rules of a civilized market. We pay taxes and create jobs. For example, the First Casino of the Gagarinn Hotel in Odesa has over 600 staff members, while there are around 2,000 employees across Ukraine. Our establishments are magnets for foreign tourists and incentives for developing local infrastructure and tourism.

There are the Rules at casinos and slot machine rooms of First Casino. At the first visit to any parlor, the guest registration using a passport or driver’s license is mandatory. Persons under the age of 21 are not allowed to the establishments. Moreover, the blacklist introduction for specific categories of persons, including people with ludomania (problem gambling), is currently under discussion at the legislative level»,

— Oleksii Iesin, Head of PR at First Casino in Odesa, says.