Spacex applied for a licence in December 2020, and though the Commission initially required further information on Spacex’s ownership structure in order to ensure it met the requirement that licensees are based in Ukraine, it nonetheless became the first operator to be approved.
“At the KRAIL meeting the application of Spacex LLC to obtain a license to organise and conduct gambling casinos on the Internet was considered,” the regulator said. “After reviewing the documents, the application was approved.”
Ukraine’s gambling act – which allowed online gambling, bookmaking, slot halls and land-based casinos located in hotels – was signed into law in August 2020 after Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed it in a 248-95 vote at the second reading the previous month.
The act includes certain location restrictions on operators. As well as needing to form a Ukraine-based business to receive a licence, operators must not have a Russian resident or citizen act as a shareholder or Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO).
In June, Oleg Marusyak – who introduced the Gambling Act – filed a new tax bill, 2713-D. This would set a 5% GGR tax on bookmaking, 10% for online gambling and for lotteries and 12.5% for slot machines. However, it is unclear if this proposal will be put into place as four earlier tax bills had been introduced, and the Rada may choose to pass another new one.
Source: GMB / iGB
