Parimatch will have President Zelenskyy examine their 50-year ban on Ukraine.

A petition requesting a review of the sanctions against Parimatch has been submitted to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where the ongoing military operation against Ukraine by the regime within the Kremlin has dominated headlines for more than a year.

With over 25,000 signatures—the bare minimum needed to present the matter to the President—the petition was delivered fourteen days ahead of schedule. In the case against the outlawed gambling company, Zelenskyy now has ten days to make a decision.

An inquiry revealed that Parimatch was conducting business in Russia, leading to a 50-year ban on its operations in Ukraine.

Claiming to have severed ties with Russia in March 2022, just after the conflict broke out, the business has vehemently refuted the allegations.

"We are Ukrainian patriots," exclaimed Maxym Liashko, managing partner of Parimatch's management firm, Energame, in response to the petition. That is something that our fellow citizens wholeheartedly agree with. We have been there for our country during Russia's full-scale invasion and have taken swift action to eliminate any residual legacy commercial ties to the aggressor nation.

"We have faith that Ukraine will eventually become a democratic European nation where citizens and businesses may live and work freely under the protection of the law. We have faith in our president, who has always stood up for liberal democratic principles and the rule of law, to do what is right and request an investigation into the defective and unfair procedure that led to the imposition of the penalties on us.

Everyone here agrees that the Ukrainian government has every right to punish those who plot to destabilise the country. A potent weapon in the struggle against the invaders and those who back them are sanctions. But blunders do happen; Parimatch is only one example. So, any sanctions regime must have a strong structure for reviews and appeals.