"We share the proponents' reasoning that advertising has a vital role to play in a well-functioning legal market as it enables licensed gambling operators to market their services by providing informed choice and directing consumers to regulated, legal gambling services. We take the view that gambling advertising should be responsible and its regulation sustainable under clear terms and conditions".
"We do not share the understanding that the complete ban on advertising achieves the stated goals".
This is stated in the position of the Management Board of CEIB in connection with the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Gambling, submitted to the National Assembly, reported BGNES.
Further, it reads:
"The ban on lawfully informing users about legal gambling operators and their services will lead to a switch to illegal providers that do not comply with the rules of the ХХ and the rest of the applicable legislation and where there are no guarantees for the protection of minors and consumers in general. To date, more than 3,280 illegal gambling Internet sites have been published on the website of the National Revenue Agency, the latter being only the illegal gambling providers established by the National Revenue Agency. Many of these illegal gambling operators constantly change the domain through which they provide gambling services and redirect users to new access addresses.
The essence of the changes consists mainly in two directions:
- Total ban on gambling advertising in the media;
- Gambling games in gaming halls and casinos should be organized only in settlements with over 5,000 inhabitants.
The changes will have lasting adverse consequences for the state, society and business climate in the country.
Thousands of employees in the gambling industry will lose their jobs - on the one hand, people employed by gambling operators (in gaming halls and casinos according to the territorial restriction and in all other gambling organizers - entire advertising departments are expected to be closed), and on the other another party and highly qualified personnel at the manufacturers of gaming equipment, since the reduction in the number of gaming sites and the ban on advertising legal gambling will also reflect on the gaming equipment market.
Jobs will also be released in the media, as well as in advertising agencies working in the sector, as the main revenue from advertising in the media, according to official data, also comes from the gambling industry. The financial stability of the media will be disrupted through direct state intervention and the compulsion to terminate the bond relations of the gambling industry with advertising agencies, television, radio, print and electronic media.
Bulgarian sport, whose main sponsor is the gambling industry, will also lose its main financial support, as well as Bulgarian culture.
It is important to point out that the main economic operators in these sectors - the gambling industry, the media and sports - are members of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, which guarantees their presence in the bright part of business. CEIB's position has been consulted with all members of CEIB in the above sectors.
According to the provision of para. 3 of Art. 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, investments and business activities of Bulgarian and foreign citizens and legal entities are protected by law.
With the envisaged changes, the interests of Bulgarian and foreign investors in the field of gambling and in the media sphere will be sharply affected.
The gambling industry is one of the main sources of revenue in the state budget and one of the most strictly regulated businesses in the state, and legislative changes related to the matter should be carefully considered and undertaken.
For years, the gambling sector has been one of the main industries providing funds to the state budget, as well as jobs for over 100,000 employees employed in the industry.
At the same time, gambling makes a significant contribution to the development of other industries in the country, which would also be affected by the changes:
- Sports will be greatly affected as advertising and sponsorship contracts will have to be terminated. Gambling supports Bulgarian sports and is its main benefactor.
- The tourism sector will also suffer losses in the long term. Gambling tourism, i.e. tourists attracted to participate in gambling games, annually brings income not only for the gambling industry but also for other merchants and the state. It is not by chance that it is included in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Tourism.
CEIB insists on a broad public discussion, the preparation of an impact assessment, and that the proposals of the working group under the leadership of the Acting Minister of Finance be taken into consideration." /BGNES
