Latest Events in the World of Gambling: News from the Gambling Markets in Ukraine, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Spain

How Ukraine is moving forward with the process of establishing a gambling regulator? What are the newly introduced rules for client identification in Denmark and Finland? What Czech company is focusing on acquiring of the national lottery operator license in UK and how many Spanish citizens participate in gambling activities at least once a year? Find out more in the weekly digest.

Ukraine approves the procedure of competitive selection of members of the Commission for regulation of gambling activities and lotteries

On October 5, Ukrainian authorities gathered at the extraordinary session to establish the competitive procedure for selecting a chairman and members of the collegiate authority that will be responsible for regulating the activities of gambling operators.

Selection to the commission is necessary for conducting state regulation of gambling activities and defining of the gambling business rules, including for the lockdown period.

The law legalizing gambling business in Ukraine took force in August of 2020. In September, the government adopted a resolution to create the regulator. According to the legislation, commission will issue licenses to gambling operators, establish the procedure of equipment check, review player complaints etc.

Czech company is aiming to obtain the British lottery operator license

Sazka Group from the Czech Republic has become the first company to submit an application for participation in the tender for acquiring license giving the right to conduct the British national lottery. Contest will take place in 2023 – the year when current lottery operator license provided to Camelot Group company will expire.

According to Sazka General Director Robert Chvatal, the company that he is leading is organizing its own team in the UK, establishes partnership operations and connections. This is necessary to persuade the British government that the Czech operator will become a worthy successor of Camelot.

Sazka Group is one of the largest lottery operators in Europe. Company is working in Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Cyprus.

Danske Spil integrates ID cards for gamblers

Danish national operator Danske Spil started to produce Sikkert Spil ID cards that will help with checking the identity of people desiring to participate in the gambling activities. Starting on October 31, Danish citizens will have to show such cards in each of 2700 betting shops belonging to the operator.

Gamblers will get an opportunity to obtain a personal gaming ID in the mobile app or as a traditional card.

New method of identifying players is introduced to protect minors from accessing the gambling activities. In addition, such approach will help to control cash flow as part of combating money laundering and fixed matches.

Veikkaus launches client identification for slot machines

On October 1, Veikkaus started a pilot project supposing that clients of the slot machine halls would have to undergo identification if they want to gamble. Identification will be necessary for people who want to try their luck on Kultatassu, Lampunhenki and Viidakkovuori slots.

Client identification will be completed with Veikkaus player cards, mobile app or a banking card that will be linked to the operator’s clients database.

Gambling operator introduces such measures aiming to prevent the spread of gambling addiction. In 2021 the client identification is expected to become necessary for all slot machines in Feel Vegas and Pelaamo halls managed by Veikkaus.

Total number of gamblers in Spain revealed

Specialists of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have conducted a research revealing that 84,9% of adult people in Spain participated in the gambling activities at least once during the year. This number comprised more than 90% before the economic crisis.

According to research results, Spanish gamblers attend land based casinos, bingo halls, slot machine halls or make bets online. The most popular type of gambling is lotteries. For instance, 25,8 mn people participated in El Gordo Christmas lottery in 2019. Nonetheless, only 0,9% of population made bets online within the previous year.

Besides, the research showed that only 0,3% of punters in Spain have a gambling addiction.

---

Read more information about the gambling industry development in the News section.