This is evidenced by a message from Telegram by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on financial issues.
“On average, from January to November 2024, citizens spent 12.7 billion UAH each month to top up their gambling accounts. In December, this figure reached 19.4 billion UAH per month,” wrote Zheleznyak.
If we calculate, this amount totals 159.1 billion UAH for the year. It is important to note that this is the legal turnover of funds in this sector. Therefore, the actual amount could be significantly higher.
“Not everyone loses (something is returned as winnings). But overall, it is indeed a sad fact during wartime that nearly 20 billion is spent by people on this type of entertainment,” he added.
Zheleznyak also highlighted the year-over-year growth dynamics of taxes from the industry:
- 2021 — 200 million;
- 2022 — 730 million;
- 2023 — 10.4 billion;
- 2024 — 16.9 billion;