What needs to be done to attract foreign companies to Ukraine? Foreign investors are hesitant to enter the Ukrainian gambling market due to a number of factors. However, Ukraine is an attractive region for them because of the obvious advantages of our market.
This was shared by Alina Pliusch, partner at the law firm Sayenko Kharenko, co-founder and board member of the Ukrainian Association of Gambling Business Professionals, at the Kyiv iGaming Affiliate Conference 2021. According to her, the most concerning issue for foreigners is taxation, but there are other factors as well.
What Stops Investors
Alina Pliusch notes that Western companies are troubled by the lack of technical regulations. “For example, foreign operators are surprised that we do not require games to be certified. That is, any games can be used. If we are talking about online gambling, the only thing that needs to be certified is the operator’s online system. The main thing is that there is a certificate for the online system. Everything else does not need certification,” Pliusch explained, adding that technical regulations are currently being developed.
Read also: A Support Center for People with Gambling Addiction Has Opened in Ukraine.
The second important issue that investors pay attention to is the fight against illegal representatives of the industry. “We need to work with unlicensed players. Foreigners do not want to buy licenses and pay taxes as long as there are websites operating without a license. This also troubles investors because there is no effective fight against this,” Alina Pliusch noted.
According to her, the “sweet dream” for investors looks like this:
- Adoption of a law on gambling taxation
- Resolution of problematic certification issues for gaming equipment
- Improvement of infrastructure
- Effective solutions in the fight against illegal market players
- Reduction of bureaucratic levels
Advantages of the Ukrainian Market
According to Alina Pliusch, a significant advantage of the Ukrainian market is its low competition. “If we talk about betting activities, there is only one official bookmaker in Ukraine, Parimatch. The market is huge, competition is low, and new products that local players do not offer can be introduced,” she noted. Ukraine has a favorable geographical location. Primarily, investors are interested in Kyiv, as Odessa is only attractive during the summer.
“The capital is limited by five-star hotels. There are few of them, but interest exists, and negotiations with these hotels are ongoing,” Pliusch added. Another significant advantage of Ukraine is the technical potential of our developers. A major benefit is that products can be developed and serviced on-site.
Pliusch reminded that there are active discussions in Ukraine about launching new gaming zones. So far, there are no such zones, but work is underway in this direction. This issue also interests potential investors. Did you find the news interesting and informative? Want more of the online casino news and stay updated on the events? Subscribe to our ‘Gambling News’ section and receive notifications about fresh publications.
