Fire Fuels Ukraine Gaming Parlor Ban

5/19/2009 by Gaming Industry Media Staff

Last week Ukraine's parliament voted to temporarily ban casinos and gaming parlors after a fire in a gaming hall killed nine people, Reuters reports.

Editor's note: After this article was published, details were added.

Last week Ukraine's parliament voted in favor of temporarily banning casinos and gaming parlors after a fire in a gaming hall killed nine people, Reuters reports.

"The tragedy in Dnipropetrovsk shows we can no longer put off a decision on the problem of the gaming business," Natalya Korolevska, a senior deputy, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

According to the Kyiv Post, the ban, supported by 340 out of 442 members of parliament, does not affect lotteries or billiards.

"Though rather strict but, to my mind, equitable law has been adopted by the Parliament today," said Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine, in a statement issued by the government.

However, the Financial Times reports that Viktor Yushchenko, the country's president, could possibly veto the drafted law before it is published.