Ukraine Prime Minister supports casinos

“This morning I met with MPs, including those with the opposite view towards the government, in order to adopt a law in the Parliament on bringing the gambling business out of ‘shadow’ and legalising it,” remarked Yatsenyuk at the meeting, “and get additional income and Ukranian culture, art and cinema.”

He emphasised that Ukraine spends billions on defence and national security and in order to raise additional finance for culture, the legislation of casinos is a viable option. “If anyone thinks that we are given loans to fill tanks and finance Ukrainian soliders you are wrong,” said Yatsenyuk. “We have no right to spend a penny from this loan on the national economy, everything goes to repay foreign debt, which we did not contracted.”

“It is important to pull [casino gaming] out of the shadow business,” continued the PM. “There are not dozens, but hundreds of millions who now disagree on the pockets. I do not promise that everything will be spent on culture, but a significant part will go to finance cultural projects, including the Ukrainian cinema.”, he added.

Casinos were outlawed in the Ukraine in 2009, after a fire in a gambling hall that killed nine people, and put an estimated 200,000 people out of work overnight. The Prime Minister wants to build support for casinos at a time when Russia is also establishing new legal gambling zones, including the annexed Crimea, as it shows further claim over the Peninsula.