F E A T U R E FA L L I N G I N T O L I N E
NETHERLANDS
A D U LT POPULATION
16m
Ordered offshore operators to block Dutch players from accessing their sites.
TAX MODEL:
15%
GPT
PRODUCTS ALLOWED/BANNED:
ESTIMATED TAX TAKE FIRST FULL YEAR OF REGULATION:
€46.7m
?nancial crisis, which has seen four-day weeks sporadically introduced in order to conserve electricity. In February, Sportingbet was announced as one of 70 European sites which the Serbian Gaming Board (SGB) had ordered internet service providers to block players in the country from accessing. At the time, SGB director Aleksandar Vulovi? told local tabloid Blic that around half of the country’s egaming revenues were going to unlicensed, foreign operators. UPIS concluded its statement by saying: “UPIS expects that competent authorities will urgently stop this illegal business on the internet, and the new government will review all contested actions and through consistent respect for the law ensure equal treatment of all participants of the market. “We hope that Serbian citizens will be protected from the in?uence of foreign ?rms and a variety of interest groups with questionable reputation, and that equity will be protected because it is a basic condition for economic prosperity of every country. Otherwise, there will be a complete breakdown of the domestic market which will only bene?t certain interest groups at the expense of all citizens of Serbia.” Twenty four hours later...
8 JUNE 2012: SPORTINGBET SERBIA DEAL PRECURSOR TO MARKET OPENING, JAKTA CLAIMS
The Serbian association of operators, technicians and games manufacturers (JAKTA) backed Sportingbet’s partnership with the country’s national lottery Državna lutrija Srbije (DLS), claiming it will act as a precursor to the opening
of the licensing process for private operators. Speaking to eGaming Review, JAKTA president Mirjana Acimovic explained that despite protests from the Serbian Association of Gambling Providers (UPIS), the lottery was within its rights to select Sportingbet to provide its pre-match and in-play betting platform under the terms of the ‘Right to Organise Games of Chance over the Internet’ – an Act passed through the country’s parliament in 2004 giving Državna lutrija Srbije the exclusive right to offer egaming products in the market. Under the terms of Article 22 of the Act, the state lottery has “the right to engage another corporate body to operate internet gambling games,” according to Acimovic. “Since the new online regulations are not yet published, DLS may proceed to comply with the old regulation, the same as any operator in Serbia, so it is a valid agreement. “DLS is a government company and JAKTA is sure it will comply with the law and all future technical standards in order to provide new products to players in a responsible way,” she explained. Acimovic went on to reveal that following the drafting of technical standards, the SGB is to hold public consultations on regulation, and will look to open the licensing process as soon as possible. “Serbia will bring new technical rules very soon and we are expecting more than 10 licences for online gambling to be issued in near future. We are expecting gaming laboratories to be appointed very soon, and the majority of Serbian operators can see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ and that the Serbian gaming market is going to be well regulated and very pro?table. “The Serbian gaming market has seen a strong growth trend, and the number of employees in this industry is also visibly increasing, with more operators and higher budgets coming in,” she added.
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