Slovakia to reorganize its online gambling Industry

Last week, Slovakia’s National Council voted to override a presidential veto on the reorganization of the country’s gambling market.

Slovakia is ready to adopt changes to the country’s gambling law which will reorganize its market and will legalize online gambling and betting within the country.

Slovakia’s National Council voted last week to override president Andrej Kiska’s veto on the proposed amendments to the existing law. President Kiska vetoed in December after the parliament had approved the changes the same month.

The reorganization of the gambling law concerns different aspects of the country’s gambling industry and it aims to change the country’s online gaming and betting space. Under the debated gambling law, interested gambling operators based outside EU jurisdictions will be able to apply for licences and operate in a regulated environment.

Gambling permissions will be issued for both online betting and casino operations. Currently, the only authorized entity is the state-run lottery operator TIPOS and it will keep its monopoly over online lottery games and bingo after the new legislation is enforced.

The new laws were introduced by the Finance Ministry last year. The legislation was approved in the National Council in early December and then vetoed by president Kiska later that month.

A total of 86 lawmakers voted to override the veto and carry on with the implementation of the proposed changes.

According to the proposed amendments, online gambling operators will be able to pursue 10-year licences with a five-year extension possibility. A licence for a single gambling product will cost €3 million, while a combined licence for a casino and betting service will come at a €5 million cost.

Online gambling operations will come with a tax of 22% on annual revenue. Casino operators will be also required to pay an additional 0.7% of their annual revenue to Office for Regulation of Gambling.