Gambling Sector Faces Disruption as Ukraine Aims to Fulfill IMF Duties

(AsiaGameHub) –   A Ukrainian lawmaker has cautioned that a suggested shift of gambling policy authority between two of the country’s ministries could be more detrimental than beneficial.

Nina Yuzhanina, a member of parliament from Ukraine’s European Solidarity party, turned to Facebook to openly condemn the progress of draft bill No. 15111-d, which seeks to regulate taxes on earnings derived from digital platforms.

The drafting of the bill has been assigned to the Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, led by MP Danylo Hetmantsev.

The bill is part of Ukraine’s commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which mandates that the nation provide reports on internal data regarding income generated digitally and its taxation.

In her Facebook post, Yuzhanina criticized Hetmantsev and the Committee harshly for failing to maintain strict control and allowing excessive redaction, pointing out that deputies had put forward 3,529 amendments before the bill’s second reading.

Ukraine loses £334m yearly, Hetmantsev claims

Among these proposals is the transfer of gambling policy formulation from the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the Ministry of Finance.

Hetmantsev has been an outspoken critic of the Digital Ministry’s management of gambling matters, focusing mainly on the rollout of the State Online Monitoring System—a centralized digital platform that provides real-time data on the licensed market to Ukraine’s PlayCity regulator.

The first phase of the system was rolled out in April, and it is anticipated to be fully functional by the end of the year. Hetmantsev asserts that this schedule will cost the Ukrainian treasury as much as UAH 20 billion (£334.4 million) annually.

As head of the Financial Committee, Hetmantsev argues that the Ministry of Finance is much better prepared to assume regulatory supervision of the gambling sector, a key part of the national economy.

Speaking to Ukrainian news outlet 24 Channel, Mykhailo Aksyonov—Deputy Head of the PlayCity Anti-Corruption Expert Group—opposed the idea of transferring authority, stating that this step might not only be expensive but also throw the entire sector into disarray.

He stated: “No matter who proposed this amendment or what reasons lie behind it, the concept of transferring authority right now seems extremely risky.

“If we begin shifting policy-making duties from the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the Ministry of Finance while also establishing a new body to oversee this area, the rollout of the State Online Monitoring System could be delayed by at least 12 months.

“This system is the critical tool for ensuring transparency in the day-to-day operations of gambling operators.”

Local media reports indicate that Hetmantsev has been accused in the past of a conflict of interest because of his connections to the gambling industry, having once held shares in the scandal-plagued lottery operator MSL.

MSL was one of two lottery firms—the other being Patriot—that were accused of participating in cross-border money laundering between Russia and Ukraine in 2015.

Neither company was prevented from winning one of the three official state lottery contracts earlier this year, though Patriot had its license revoked shortly after the new licensing system was implemented.