TURKISH FEARS AT BETSSON

2 March 2007

But is protectionism acceptable in the EU?

Swedish public betting group Betsson AB has expanded on its warning regarding Turkish government protectionism earlier this week (see previous InfoPowa report) with a press release cautioning that Turkish anti-online gambling legislation could be imminent.

Turkey's entry to the European Union will soon be achieved, and the company says that this may conflict with pending legislation aimed at protecting a largely state-owned gaming industry in the country.

The Turkish market represents approximately 20 percent of Betsson Online’s revenues and 15 percent of subsidiary Net Entertainment’s revenues, and it is concerned that the new legislation will take effect within a short time.

"Despite the legislation Betsson’s partner will be able to continue operations towards Turkey. Technical solutions to support the operation have already been developed," the statement notes.

A clearly worried Betsson claims that the proposed legislation now being considered by the Turks is designed to protect the partially state owned gaming company IDDAA, and is "...according to legal expertise a serious offence according to the agreement between Turkey and [the] EU." This appears to be a reference to the requirement that EU states permit the free movement of trade and services between member states, a sovereignty argument that has seen litigation rage among several European Union nations and betting groups.

Pontus Lingwall, the CEO at Betsson says in the statement: ”We hope the legislation can be positive to us. Protectionistic legislation has shown to be of our advantage, and I believe it is applicable to this case as well. We are in the middle of a phase of strong growth, where the first quarter has started out fantastic. The underlying growth of online gaming will not be threatened by individual countries' actions”.

Betsson AB owns gaming companies within Betsson Online and the game developer Net Entertainment AB. Betsson Online develops and operates games for end customers and operates Betsson.com, CasinoEuro.com and CherryCasino.com. The biggest games are poker, casino, sports games, lottery and sports betting with customers originating mainly from Scandinavia, Turkey and Europe in general.

Net Entertainment develops and distributes games and game systems for online gambling companies with CasinoModule as its main product. The company has 40 licensees, mostly situated in Europe.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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