Support at Hand

Anton Kuchukhidze Chairman Ukraine Gambling Council

UGC renews the provision of psychological support to gamblers by Anton Kuchukhidze

ecause of the ongoing war, we must

Bmake fast decisions that are often critical to survival. It is not only about physical survival but also about saving businesses, projects, companies, or even entire economic sectors. Of course, the war affected the Ukrainian Gambling Council too, making us radically reconsider our activities from the very first days of the full-scale Russian invasion.

It was quite obvious that operating at pre-war rates and volumes would be impossible. First, it was physically impossible since we had to take care of the team’s safety and to shift all operations online. Second, in the first months of the war, the legal gambling market virtually stopped working. Legal operators had to quickly reorganize business, adapt to new military realities, work to preserve teams and tangible assets, and reduce costs.

That is why we have decided to significantly reduce the scope of our activities. We scrapped almost all of our projects. In particular, we closed the psychological-support hotline. It allowed us to reduce

our operational costs and the financial burden on association members. We operated in this mode until the end of March.

In early April, it became clear that the war was dragging on but active hostilities began to subside, at least in Kyiv and the region. That is why we began to gradually return to more systematic work. We partially resumed cooperation with the media and continued to work on developing recommendations to improve gambling legislation.

At that time, most of our members also managed to partially resume their business processes and began to gradually reopen the legal gambling market. The licensees recalled employees and partially resumed the payment of license fees. Most companies launched volunteer and charity initiatives related to the help of the army and civilians.

Finally, at the end of October, we managed to find the resources to reopen our support hotline for gamblers and their families. The following factors contributed to this.

1. First, the statistical analysis shows a gradually increasing demand for gambling, which means that more gamblers return to the game. Although “the issue of gambling addiction in Ukraine” is a mere manipulation by opponents of gambling legalization, as both of our studies have shown, going back to gambling, especially in stressful conditions of war, may have negative consequences for some of the most vulnerable gamblers. Thus, if they feel the need for qualified psychological support they should be able to get it. 2. Second, social-responsibility projects are an integral part of the process of restoring the legal gambling market. Qualified psychological support for gamblers is part of gambling social responsibility aimed at preventing the spread of gambling addiction (ludopathy). Finally, gamblers’ access to information on gambling addiction and qualified psychological support is a legal requirement.

3. Third, our association’s members prepared the request to relaunch social-responsibility projects.

Even in times of war and dire market conditions, our members are willing to finance projects to uphold responsible-gambling principles and support gamblers.

Today, gamblers facing problems with gambling, as well as their families may contact our hotline and get advice from qualified psychologists on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. All consultations are free and for convenience are provided by three phone numbers:

0800 33 05 80 – for calls within Ukraine (free); +38 (067) 502 89 53 – for Kyivstar customers; +38 (099) 110 22 98 – for Vodafone customers.

Even one person suffering from gambling addiction requires the presence of a legal, civilized gambling market. That is why, if you or your family members feel that you face problems with gambling, it is better to hurry up and immediately contact our psychologists, who will provide you with qualified support. Even if gambling addiction is not widespread and does not represent a global challenge for the industry in Ukraine, individual cases of gambling addiction are still a problem for some people and families. And the sooner they begin to address this issue, the fewer negative psychological and financial consequences they and everyone around them will have.

Given the above, I would also like to take this opportunity and once again urge you to gamble only in legal gambling establishments and on licensed online platforms. Only there will your rights as gamblers be respected. Only by gambling with licensed gambling operators will you minimize the risk of facing gambling addiction.