Ukraine regulator approves its first ever gambling licence

Added: February 4, 2021

The Ukraine Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) has announced the approval of its first ever gambling licence under the 2020 Gambling Act. The licence was acquired by the operator Spacex for its Kosmolot brand, which used to be owned by Ukraine’s National Lottery.

Spacex’s application process initially kicked off in December of 2020, when they were presented with questions from the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries. As expected, the country’s regulator spent lots of time making sure that the operator had met all the requirements and fit the criteria for the acquisition of the licence.

Spacex is now the first operator in Ukraine to obtain this licence, or any licence for that matter. The company will now have to pay an online licence fee of about UAH30.7m ( approximately £808,909). Once their payment is processed, they will officially obtain the licence, which is valid for 5 years.

Ukraine’s Gambling Act was signed into law in August of last year, and now operators are starting to get their licenses approved. The approval of Spacex surely pave the way for others seeking to work in this part of the world.

A spokesperson for the regulator stated:

Yesterday at the KRAIL meeting the application of Spacex LLC to obtain a license to organise and conduct gambling casinos on the Internet was considered. After reviewing the documents, the application was approved.

Some of the conditions of the online gambling license state that these operators have to form a Ukraine-based business. Moreover, it is prohibited to have any Russian residents or citizens as shareholders or UBOs involved in the business.

Spacex are definitely the first operators, but they most likely will not be the last. The Ukrainian market is surely showing lots of potential and opportunities for both operators and affiliates looking to extend their reach into new markets.

KRAIL, Spacex, The Ukraine Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries