Online Betting in Ukraine – Our Expert Guide

Is Online Betting Legal in Ukraine?

Online betting in Ukraine is now legal and regulated throughout the country. However, this is only because of recent changes in the legal situation in the country, which ushered in a new era for those who want to place bets in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government passed a nearly blanket ban on all forms of gambling, including online betting, in 2009. But that changed in August 2020 with the passage of a new bill, legalising the “State Regulation of the Activities Related to the Organisation and Conduct of Gambling Games”. The Ukrainian parliament passed the law by a 248-95 vote, after which president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the bill.

First Licences Issued in 2021

The new law allowed licencing for both online betting in Ukraine and land-based betting activities. Under regulations finalised later in 2020, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) became responsible for licencing legal Ukrainian betting sites, including online sports betting, internet casinos and poker rooms.

KRAIL issued its first licence in February 2021, when Spaceiks – which operates the Cosmolot gaming brand – earned that honour. Cosmolot once ran the Ukrainian National Lottery, though that arrangement was discontinued in 2019. Parimatch soon joined it to become the second approved operator in the country.

Regulations and Tax Rates

While KRAIL can award licenses to a variety of domestic and foreign operators, there are some restrictions. Notably, operators cannot have any Russian citizens or residents acting as officers or shareholders for their company. Shareholders from Iran and North Korea are also barred.

While lawmakers considered several tax regimes, they ultimately settled on a flat 10% rate throughout all forms of betting, both online and live. Operators are also subjected to the standard 18% general corporate tax rate.

Where Can Ukrainians Bet Online?

Ukrainian bettors are free to open accounts with the legal Ukraine betting sites that are springing up under the new regulations. However, many international bookmakers also market their websites to Ukrainians, and many people in the country bet at these sites every day.

However, now that the Ukrainian government plans to regulate and tax the gambling industry, it has attempted to take steps in restricting access to these foreign sites. In 2020, Ukrainian courts ordered ISPs to block access to 59 online gambling websites, a list that included many of the most popular options in the country. That was just the latest round of blocks in the government’s ongoing efforts to steer users away from international operators.

However, many players from Ukraine continue to use these foreign operators, and likely will do so even as more regulated sites become available. That’s because there are several good reasons for using these international betting sites. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of using a foreign bookmaker.

The History of Sports Betting in Ukraine

Gambling flourished in Ukraine after the country gained its independence from Russian rule at the end of the Cold War in 1991. Without specific laws or regulations to control operator practices, there were nearly 50 venues with gaming machines in Ukraine by the year 2000 (the vast majority concentrated around the capital Kiev). The Olympic Casinos group were a dominant force and in some of their more remote locations, customers could play casino style table games such as roulette, blackjack and poker.

In 2003, the government made the decision to regulate and control gambling in the country. The draft law N 4204 “On Gambling Games in Ukraine” was created and permitted the following types of games to be played at licenced operators:

• Bingo
• Totalizator (horse racing)
• Cylindrical games (including roulette)
• Cards or dice
• Slot machines

For some reason, sports betting was not covered in the draft legislation.

Parliament Outlaws Gambling

Despite the new laws and regulations, unlicensed gambling was rife, with thousands of salons around the country allowing underage gamblers to play at their venue. Everything came to a head in 2009 when a fire at a Ukrainian gambling hall killed 9 people.

As a result, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko prohibited all forms of gambling, claiming it was demoralising the country’s youth and was only making families who had been hit by the economic recession even poorer. “On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine” stated that ‘any placing of bets in which the outcome is found to be determined by chance in whole or in part is considered gambling under the law, and is banned, except where permitted by law’.

Poker was a point of contention, as it was considered a sport, and was initially exempt from the new laws. However, the government rescinded this decision at the end of 2009, to much objection. Eventually, the Ukrainian Supreme Court ruled in favour of the poker industry, deciding it was a sport and was legal, thus paving the way for a plethora of poker rooms to reopen.

Although online gambling in Ukraine was illegal at the time, that did not stop citizens from betting, as most of the major bookmakers from around the world accepted clients from the country. Anti-gambling laws may be strict on paper, but without a strong censorship program (like Russia or Belarus), actually eradicating online gambling was an unrealistic goal.

Legislature Passes Bill to Legalise Gambling

In a promising turn of events, in June 2014, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk made a statement where he claimed the country needed to legalise gambling to bring additional revenue into the country. “It’s absolutely necessary to adopt the law on the legalization of gambling and to obtain additional revenue to the budget of the country”, Yatsenyuk said. It was widely accepted that underground gambling was rife, and that the country might as well benefit from regulating and taxing the industry.

It wouldn’t be until 2020 that Ukraine eventually legalised and regulated online gambling, as a part of more sweeping gambling legislation that also allowed for land-based gaming facilities. The new regime represents an effort by the Ukrainian government to rein in both the underground gambling facilities throughout the country and foreign online betting sites by offering licensed alternatives for gamblers in Ukraine.

The Future of Online Betting in Ukraine

As the new regulatory framework comes into place and more licences are awarded, the hope is that the government will take more control over online betting in Ukraine. While it’s unlikely that officials will ever be able to prevent Ukrainians from betting on foreign sites, more rounds of mandated ISP blocks are certain to come, and regulated sites will have the edge in name recognition and advertising within the country.

Ultimately, Ukraine hopes to both control its market and raise revenue through its new regulatory system. In the long run, players will benefit from the added competition from regulated online gambling, as the licenced sites must not only fight amongst each other but also compete against the international sites that currently dominate the Ukrainian market.