Novinsky urges President to veto law on gambling legalization

Vadim Novinsky. Photo: press center MP Vadim Novinsky’s press centre

The legalization of gambling business during the pandemic will turn into a social disaster for Ukraine, which can be stopped only by the President. Thus Vadim Novinsky, an MP and a member of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, commented on the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of bill No. 2285-d "On State Regulation of Activities in the Organization and Conduct of Gambling", reports the MP’s press centre.

"On behalf of voters who share traditional values and Christian morals, I appeal to the popularly elected President to veto this law," said Vadim Novinsky. “The leader of the Ukrainian state, which was trusted by an unprecedented number of Ukrainian citizens during the elections, is the last hope of our people to protect themselves from grief and devastation following the emergence of casinos and gambling machines in towns and villages. After all, the so-called gambling business exists at the expense of losses of ordinary people.

According to the deputy, the promised 4 billion hryvnias of taxes from gambling legalization is a small amount for the state budget, which will cost too much to Ukrainians’ families. Thus, he said, to ensure such tax revenues, the Ukrainians will have to lose 40 billion hryvnias of their own funds annually, and "catastrophic consequences for the society are disproportionate to the non-existent benefits of the legalization”.

"There is no legal purpose to adopt this law," Novinsky said. “First, the country is going through a period of dubious legality of radicals. In addition, in one of the next bills on the agenda of the Parliament session, it is planned to exempt lottery and casino winnings from taxation, which together can lead to the legalization of funds obtained by criminal means. Secondly, the population of the country stands at the line of poverty and often extreme poverty, which means it is particularly vulnerable to ludomania. Thirdly, an honest socially responsible business – a large industry, production, services – all are on the verge of survival due to quarantine restrictions. It is no secret that in most countries after the legalization of gambling business there was a sharp increase in crime and gambling addiction, and Ukraine today has taken a step in the same direction".

The people’s deputy emphasized: while 75% of Ukrainian citizens who gave their votes for Zelensky and his team continue to expect from the government and the President personally to stop the war in the Donbass and overcome poverty, "to adopt such a law and allow its entry into force is to go against public morality, their own people and the state”.

Vadym Novinsky is convinced that the gambling business in Ukraine should be banned. To bail out the Ukrainian economy, it is necessary to strengthen family values, to support young people, to stimulate birth rate and save labour resources within the state.

As reported, on July 14, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed in the second reading bill No. 2285-d "On State Regulation of Activities in the Organization and Conduct of Gambling", which legalized the gambling business.

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