Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declares that the decision taken by the country's authorities on Friday morning to suspend the operation of all gaming halls in the country is associated with opposition to the adoption of a gambling legalization law in parliament the day before.

"Yesterday, the Verkhovna Rada failed to pass a law on the legalization of gambling. We know who is behind. Do you want to play by transparent rules? Do you want to work in a civilized way and pay to the budget? Well, let's do it differently. From now on, we'll close all gambling halls," Zelensky wrote on Facebook on Friday afternoon.

As reported, on December 19, the Verkhovna Rada decided to rework for its repeat first reading bill No. 2285-d on state regulations on organizing and conducting of gambling activity, which was tabled in parliament on December 18.

Lawmakers did not support the bill in the first reading, it scored a mere 213 votes with the required number being 226, while 243 parliamentarians supported the decision to send the bill for the repeat first reading.