UKG Defends Parimatch Following Ukraine Ban

The Ukraine Gambling Council (UGC) is arguing with the country’s government against its banning of Parimatch.

Representatives from the UGC want President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to lift the sanctions imposed on the online sports betting casino and a second site, PokerMatch. They say neither should have appeared on a list of blacklisted companies issued by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) last week. They did so, due to an error, a statement from the UGC insists.

A total of 287 companies and 120 individuals received sanctions for either publishing illegal gambling sites or having business links to Russia. Suspension sees the perpetrator suspended from operating a business in the Ukraine for 50 years and the freezing of any current capital they may have. Operating licenses are also withdrawn as a matter of course.

A statement from Anton Kuchukhidze of the UGC agreed with the banning of pre-Russian firms but argued that Parimatch wasn’t one of them.

It read: “It is imperative that law enforcement agencies promptly and effectively oppose the operation of ruscists’ brands instead of Ukrainian ones, which direct their traffic to the territory of Ukraine and Ukrainian consumers.

“I believe that the inclusion of members of our association Parimatch LLC and PokerMatch .UA LLC in the sanctions lists is a mistake, and not a planned attack by law enforcement agencies against individual Ukrainian companies and against all legal gambling business in our country.”

The website run by Parimatch Ukraine has been blocked since Saturday – despite the company denying any financial and other links to the Russian government. In addition, Kuchukhidze insists that since the start of the invasion, Parismatch has taken a pro-Ukrainian stance.

The statement added: “Parimatch stopped the operation of the franchise on the territory of the Russian Federation, and Ukrainian company PARIMATCH LLC began to systematically provide aid to all defence and security forces of Ukraine. To date, the company has allocated more than UAH 500 million for those purposes.”SBC News Ukraine Gambling Council backs Parimatch against law enforcement ‘mistake’.

Parimatchwas founded in Kyiv in 1994, but has since re-located to Cyprus.

On a wider scale, as mentioned above, the brand has suspended its commercial partnerships whilst other partners have terminated their own arrangements, such as football club FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Global B2B tech giant GR8 has also suspended business dealings with Parimatch Ukraine but remains working with them in other countries.

PokerMatch insists it too is pro-Ukraine.