Moldova’s Public Property Agency (APP) is no more holding the monopoly over gambling following the nation’s latest shift of course regarding the provision of solutions of this nature, news outlet the Balkan Insight reports.
It’s recognized that two EU companies have been permitted to enter the neighborhood gambling market as part of a public-private partnership, greenlighted from lawmakers. The announcement emerged nearly two years following a massive crackdown that caused the adoption of a legislation, under which lottery and gambling activities could only be conducted lawfully with a state-run monopoly.
The responsibilities for the provision of gambling services are now divide between that state-run entity and two overseas companies. Novo Gaming M Technologies GmbH, a subsidiary of Austrian gambling giant Novomatic, has won the first of the two contracts.
Directed by Austrian billionaire Johann Graf, the company boasts geographic presence across 45 countries and provides gaming equipment to over 70 nations.
It will allow the winning bidder to provide lottery and sports gambling services in Moldova.
National Lottery AD is presently the most significant gambling operator in Bulgaria. It’s the pioneer in the selling of scratchcards from the Southeastern European country. The scratchcards sector is one of the largest ones in the neighborhood gambling market with annual revenue of BGN320 million in 2016.
It’s also interesting to note that National Lottery is possessed by Bulgarian businessman Vasil Bozhkov, regarded as one of the nation’s richest people. Through time, Mr. Bozhkov was exposed to extensive media coverage over reported mafia connections.
Revenue Sharing Deal
Under the conditions of the two contracts, the National Lottery of Moldova will receive a significant part of the gambling earnings generated from the nation. The two overseas companies are thus needed to donate 75% of their lottery revenues into the state-run entity.
The National Lottery of Moldova will even receive 90% of the sports gambling revenues generated from neighborhood gambling clients, and 51% of slot machine revenues. The APP has said that the revenue part the National Lottery of Moldova is set to receive is greater compared to other European countries where a similar public-private partnership is in place, with neighboring Romania being one of these.
It was at June 2016 when the chief of Moldova’s ruling party, Vlad Plahotniuc, established a crackdown on illegal casinos from the nation as gambling addiction rates were rising among nationals.
In November of that year, police officers raided and shut all the casinos in the nation in an operation that Mr. Plahotniuc declared a success. In December 2016, a draft legislation had been introduced with the ruling party, under which the provision of gambling services in Moldova was to be granted to some state-run entity. The legislation came into effect later that month.
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