This expert opinion is written by  Andrey Astapov, Eterna Law partner and member of the Advisory and Expert Council of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries in Ukraine

On the 2nd of February, 2021, the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (hereinafter – the Commission) have decided to start issuing the first gambling licences. The first licence was issued to an online casino operator.

This is really important because, for a long time, the Commission made a decision to leave all previous applications without consideration due to a number of shortcomings. Among the most common are the following:

Improper execution of the submitted documents;

Lack of necessary information / documents.

At the Consulting and Expert Council, we constantly analyse and monitor mistakes made by operators when preparing a package of documents for obtaining a licence, systemise them in order to convey to applicants and the market the position of the Commission on certain documents and procedures. Denis Dzyubenko, SiGMA’s CIS region Director told SiGMA News:

“The issuing of the first gambling operator licence is a truly significant milestone for the Ukrainian gambling market, as it is a powerful signal to both domestic and foreign investors that the gambling market in Ukraine has begun to fully operate. This means that interest in the gambling market in Ukraine will undoubtedly increase, and all interested parties who had previously doubted that the market can also initiate their investment projects in the field of gambling”

It’s worth noting that in addition to errors in the execution of documents, which are most of all technical, the applicants also often submitted applications with an incomplete package of docu

ments, which the Commission pointed out in the investigation, in particular:

• absence of certified copies of statutory documents;
• absence of documents that testify to the compliance of gambling area or premises with the requirements of the law;
• absence of evidence of legal obtaining of funds for the formation of the authorised capital

An operator who received the first licence, can work on errors pointed out and the correct preparation of documents making it possible to achieve success. Some operators would have had already repeatedly applied for a licence and each time received a refusal from the Commission due to the certain shortcomings, but ultimately the licence was issued after all errors were eliminated. Therefore, relying on the experience of the first operator – the licence holder, applicants for obtaining a licence should – in detail analyse the state of the Law and the relevant regulatory legal acts, take a note the shortcomings pointed out by the Commission in existing decisions, form a package of documents depending on the selected type of licence and provide all necessary information in a proper and legally prescribed manner.

SiGMA adds Hindi as its 7th language:

SiGMA Group is excited to announce the launch of a 7th language to its website. Users can find all content, including the SiGMA News website, in Hindi. The latest addition to SiGMA’s portfolio of languages will run alongside the recently launched French, Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese content, and aims to cater to SiGMA’s global vision.