End of the road for Swedish gambling monopoly?

[jetset]

SWEDEN'S RULING PARTY HAS SECOND THOUGHTS ON GAMBLING MONOPOLY

Moderate Party votes to privatise

It may take some time to organise, but decisions reached at a political party conference over the weekend could spell the end of the road for the Swedish government gambling monopoly Svenska Spel.

The ruling Moderate political party in Sweden has turned away from the government's online gambling monopoly, reports Poker News this week. At a party conference in Gavle over the weekend, the party voted to de-monopolise the country's gambling industry and to privatise Svenska Spel, the country's government-owned gaming company.

The Moderates have thus far eschewed privatisation of the gambling industry, incurring the wrath of the European Commission by allowing the monopoly to continue in the European Union nation, but apparently opinion was swayed by the arguments put forward by member of parliament Tomas Tobe. Abandoning the monopoly policy could open up the Swedish market to gambling companies in other EU member nations, placating the EC.

Delegates at the Moderate Party conference were told that Sweden must abolish the current monopoly and join England and Italy in regulating the industry. Funds would have to be made available for problem gambling research to ensure the right sort of restrictions were enforced.

The Moderate's change of heart on Svenska Spel is apparently shared by other political parties, with only the Christian Democrats opposed to regulation and the idea of privatising Svenska Spel.

Svenska Spel generated over Euro 500 million in profits last year (see previous InfoPowa report) Speculation that the company may be publicly listed after privatisation could see it valued at up to Euro 7 billion, making it a major player on the European gambling scene.