The Ukrainian Gambling and Lottery Commission (UGLC) has announced the appointment of Ivan Rudyi as its first Director-General.
Oleg Nemchinov, leader of Ukraine’s Council of Ministers, confirmed the appointment of Rudyi as the UGLC’s founding director-general via the publication of a telegram on October 23.
Rudyi is a former general of Ukraine’s ATO anti-terrorist unit fighting in the Donbass Conflict against Russian backed separatists. Prior to rejoining Ukraine’s armed forces, he served as an executive producer for Ukraine TV.
The UGLC will serve as an independent government agency monitoring all licensed gambling activities and operator conduct, a vital component of Ukraine’s planned launch of its regulated gambling marketplace in 2021.
Closing its September proceedings, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) accepted a series of ‘secondary laws’ attached to the approved mandate of the ‘Ukraine Gambling Law’, establishing the foundations of Ukraine’s first-ever gambling supervisory agency.
As UGLC’s Director-General, Rudyi will be supported by Olena Vodolazhko as the chief legal officer of the agency, and former Ukraine NATO representative Yevhen Hetman as the UGLC’s ‘lead coordinator’.
In his statement, Nemchinov informed that the UGLC has begun to recruit for 230 positions to fill its department, in which the regency seeks six regional directors reporting to the UGLC headquarters in Kyiv.
The progress and development of the UGLC will be overseen by an independent advisory, which will monitor how it carries out its duties with regards to licensing, maintaining compliance and market standards.
As agreed by the Cabinet of Ministers, Rudyi will serve a four-year term as Director-General, with his tenure capped at a maximum of two terms leading the UGLC as Ukraine gambling’s regulatory agency.
