The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed bill No. 2285-d on state regulation of activities of gambling establishments.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that 260 parliamentarians voted in favor of the document at a plenary sitting on Thursday morning.
As reported, on December 19, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada decided to rework for its repeat first reading bill No. 2285-d on state regulations on organizing and conducting of gambling activity, which was registered in the parliament on December 18, 2019.
The lawmakers did not support the bill in the first reading, it scored a mere 213 votes with the required number being 226, while 243 parliamentarians supported the decision to send the bill for the repeat first reading.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine registered in the parliament bill No. 2285 and the parliamentarians also submitted seven alternative bills, including the updated version No. 2285-d by member of the Servant of the People faction Oleksandr Dubinsky.
It is proposed in the bill to limit the number of licenses issued for gambling houses and to introduce mandatory verification of gamblers while receiving bets and registration of wins in the online monitoring system.
The government’s bill proposes to determine gambling areas at five-star hotels for casinos and at three-star hotels for slot machines.
The law on the national budget for 2020 envisages a UAH 4.4 billion revenue from the licensing of gambling businesses. The money will be transferred to the special fund and excess revenues will be spent on subsidies for local budgets for education and public health programs.
As reported, Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov said that in pursuance of the government’s decision, law enforcement authorities should end the activities of gambling establishments by 16:00 on December 20, 2019.
The minister said that the issue will be regulated by a special law, which was being considered and would be adopted by parliament.
The draft law on legalization of gambling, which is being discussed within the framework of the working group of the Verkhovna Rada, after its adoption could give a significant impetus to the development of five-star hotels and encourage investors to open new facilities in this segment, Managing Partner of ArtBuild Hotel Group Oleksiy Yevchenko believes.
“A significant impetus to the development of hotel business will be provided by the adoption of the law on gambling, which will regulate the placement of casinos in five-star hotels for a certain number of rooms depending on the region. Hotels for casinos could appear both in large cities and in smaller towns, causing the active development and growth of a certain region,” he said at the conference “Hotel Real Estate in Ukraine: Development Prospects.”
According to the expert, the bill has a chance to be adopted before the end of 2019 or at the beginning of 2020. According to the document, casinos will be placed in five-star hotels with over 200 rooms in Kyiv, and over 120 rooms in Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa, and from 100 rooms in all other cities.
“This will only spur the development of the five-star segment. The question is whether we have the key targeted audience here and whether there are enough tourists to fill this particular segment. In Kyiv, the occupancy of five-star hotels is on average 38%. And if another five to ten objects are built, as there are already real investors interested in this, with the number of rooms exceeding 200, with large places for organizing casinos, what will happen to the economy of these hotels?” the expert said.
He said the draft law under consideration provides for a mandatory requirement for hotels: the availability of 500 square meters of free space for a casino.
“Out of about 70 five-star hotels in Ukraine, only eight to ten hotels have such a large free space. Therefore, it is very important how the bill is adopted,” the expert stated.
DEVELOPMENT, FIVE-STAR HOTELS, GAMBLING BUSINESS, LEGALIZATION
