Ukraine moves to restrict gambling business

A Bans on operation of gambling business in Ukraine, initiated by the Regions Party MP Hryhoriy Smitiukh and BYT MP Valeriy Pysarenko, was supported by 340 out of the 442 MPs eligible to vote

Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill. They said gambling in this economically struggling ex-Soviet republic has reached epidemic proportions. They also said that most casinos evade taxes.

The ban is expected to last for couple of months, until a special new law granting the right to run gambling business in specially created government-controlled zones is approved. It will be likely that it is located in the southern Crimea peninsula. The bill will come into force when it is signed by President Viktor Yushchenko.

With the some 4,000 companies operating roughly 13,000 gaming halls around the Ukraine, the president of the Ukrainian Casinos Association, Anatoly Nesterenko has said that if the ban is allowed to go ahead, it will leave more than 200,000 Ukrainians unemployed.