MIDDLE GROUND ON INTERNET GAMBLING FOR BULGARIA?

1 February 2008

Round table discussion considers possibilities of tourism and online gambling


Bulgarian officials from the State Commission on Gambling (SCG), representatives of the gambling industry, academics and representatives from the Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (CDCOC) are currently seeking a more efficient and state beneficial approach to online and tourism gambling. The goal is to suggest amendments to existing Bulgarian gambling law, reports the Sophia Echo.

SCG chairman Dimitar Terziev said that as far as the amendments in the Gambling Law were concerned, changes would be mainly in three aspects; text message games, online bets and illegal gambling.

He said that world practice in online betting varied from total bans to total legalisation, but that in his opinion, Bulgaria should find a middle ground. One of the basic weaknesses of the current law was there was no regulation on organising gambling games over the Internet.

The SCG would insist on the introduction of a permit requirement for text message games, he added.

In 2006 taxes paid by organisers of gambling games amounted to 72 million leva. No final data for 2007 was available. Income from fees and fines amounted to 4.1 million leva in 2006 and to 4.2 million leva in 2007.

“Gambling tourism is a resource Bulgaria has not exploited. A national gambling development programme needs to be drawn up as part of the tourism industry,” Deputy Finance Minister Atanas Kunchev said during the conference. Kunchev also said that gambling needed a national information system and well-trained staff and proposed that master's programmes on gambling management be set up.

Although gambling tourism did not officially have a place in the tourism strategy it practically existed and had developed quite successfully in recent years, he added.

Most big Sofia hotels such as Hemus, Rila and Rodina have casinos and rely on income from them. Another part of the gambling tourism is concentrated at the sea resorts around Varna. The casinos there are most visited by Israeli tourists who come for a couple of days to Bulgaria to gamble.

Representatives of the State Agency for Tourism (SAT) commented that although gambling could attract rich tourists, it had to be strictly controlled. SAT chairperson Aneliya Kroushkova said at present there was no way to incorporate gambling tourism in the tourism strategy that was currently under discussion.

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