A decision on setting up special areas for gambling establishments must be taken after the holding of local referendums and be coordinated with the agencies of local government, the head of the parliamentary committee for industrial and regulatory policy and entrepreneurship, Natalia Korolevska, said at a briefing.
"If the decision is taken to open any gambling establishments on any territories of Ukraine, then this decision must be taken not just in Kyiv, not in the offices of the authorities, but only according to the results of local referendums, decisions by city, regional and district sessions of local councils [so that] people can take responsibility for the social consequences," Korolevska said.
She said the attraction of investors to the new gambling establishments in some tourist complexes could compensate for the social load that accompanies the gambling business, and people should be able to decide on their readiness to accpet this.
As reported, a range of draft laws on setting up special areas for gambling establishments were registered in the Verkhovna Rada at the end of last year.
The Law "On the prohibition of the gambling business in Ukraine" was published in the Ukrainian press on June 25, 2009. The law ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to draft within three months a special law on the gambling business in Ukraine, and on the special zones in which gambling will be allowed.
