The Verkhovna Rada has deliberately granted the government the authority to determine which ministry will coordinate the work of the new regulator for the gambling and lottery market, replacing the dissolved Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL), as stated by the head of the parliamentary committee on financial, tax, and customs policy, Daniil Getmantsev.
"The adoption of such a decision – whether it will be the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, or even the Ministry of Sports (as in many countries) – is a matter of defining and forming policy by the Cabinet of Ministers (CMU), not the Verkhovna Rada," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"We assume that it could be the Ministry of Digital Transformation. However, we wanted to delegate this to the competence of the Cabinet of Ministers so that they can make a decision. We should not make such decisions based on individuals, substituting ourselves for the CMU," added the committee head.
He noted that currently there is a strong Minister of Digital Transformation in Ukraine. "But tomorrow, if he is no longer there or takes on another position, and the law states that it is the Ministry of Digital Transformation?" – he argued for the necessity of an institutional approach at the government level, Getmantsev explained.
He reminded that the new law on the liquidation of CRGL and the strengthening of control in the gambling market (No. 9256-d) stipulates that the new body will be a service with a sole leader, coordinated by one of the ministries; however, the specific ministry has not been determined, as this decision must be made by the Cabinet.
At the same time, the law explicitly outlines the structure and distribution of powers between the service and the ministry that will coordinate its activities.
"Regarding the danger of a transitional period, there will be no transitional period: CRGL will operate until there is an order from the Cabinet of Ministers to transfer powers to the newly established body, and from that moment on, the new body will operate, meaning there will be no power vacuum," emphasized Getmantsev.
As reported, on December 18, employees of the State Bureau of Investigations and the Office of the Prosecutor General detained the head of CRGL, Ivan Rudoy, on suspicion of facilitating the operation of a Russian online casino in Ukraine and illegal drug possession. The next day, the court chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of detention until February 4, 2025, without the right to bail.
The SBI claims that under the personal directives of Ivan Rudoy, CRGL intentionally did not take action to revoke the license for organizing online gambling for a commercial entity, the beneficial owner of which is a Russian national, and its representatives facilitated the aggressor state.
In turn, CRGL stated on its website that it had not received any official information on this matter and noted "a significant increase in manipulations and blatant fakes in the information space related to the work of the state regulator."
The Commission indicated that it continues to operate as usual.
Read the full interview with the head of the parliamentary committee on financial, tax, and customs policy, Daniil Getmantsev, on the Interfax-Ukraine agency website https://interfax.com.ua/news/interview/1035573.html.