Populists or lobbyists are the latest changes to the Gambling Act? This question is being asked by many experts, and most of them, however, unanimously admit that the latest changes made to the Law on Gambling are at least extremely ill-conceived or even absurd, mediamall.info finds.
It is well known that in recent years the advertising coming from gambling companies not only fed the two big national televisions, but at the same time gave huge money to Bulgarian sports. With the recent changes in the law, perhaps this will change, although most of them are extremely ill-conceived, experts believe.
According to them, the changes are so imperfect that they only serve populist functions, just before the parliamentary and European elections in June. According to experts, there is something extremely cheap and suspicious in the rush with which GERB and DPS cleaned up the latest legislative upgrades in just a week. According to them, some of the texts in the law are pure populism, such as:
§ 10. Art. 44, para. 1, according to which the words “schools within the meaning of the Preschool and School Education Act“ are replaced by “Educational institutions within the meaning of the Act on preschool and school education, higher schools within the meaning of the Act on Higher Education, community centers within the meaning of the People's Community Centers Act, playgrounds, school and student dormitories, facilities where social services for children and youth".
The article and paragraph in question are so insane that they have even caused ridicule among our gambling community. “ Since when are children in kindergartens or children from playgrounds allowed in a casino or gambling?“, ask the experts, puzzling over the meaning of such an article.
Adding to this the fact that the law does not indicate how exactly 300 meters from a casino to an educational institution is measured, the mess becomes even bigger. “In the air, across the street, across a footpath?”, they wonder, finding such a restriction extremely comical to them, not least because no nursery school child fills his free time with gambling.
The absurdities in the law do not end there, as at least a few more articles and paragraphs cause confusion among the community dealing with the organization of gambling games in our country.
„(7) Investments must be maintained in an amount not less than the established minimum amount throughout the entire period of the issued license".
As well as § 20, according to which “Organizers of gambling games with slot machines and with games in a gaming casino bring their activities in line with Art. 4, para. b and Art. 44, para. 1 within three years from the entry into force of this law“.
In the first case, it is not clear who needs this rape, that investments should be maintained throughout the period in an amount not less than the established minimum, as well as why compliance with certain paragraphs and articles should continue for a period of three years from the entry into force of the law. If an investment has already been made, it does not need to be maintained in a similar amount throughout the period, and secondly, which has already been discussed, how an existing playroom, which at that time was located next to a nursery, must in time for three years to be moved to an unknown place?
All these nonsense no doubt fulfill a populist function, but at the same time they remind of pure lobbying. The plain truth is that as a result of these changes, the smaller operators will disappear from the market, and the larger ones will become even larger.
Adding to this the fact that the treasury will lose billions, it becomes even more visible that this law does not limit gambling, but opens the door for a certain “gambler” to become a monopolist in the next few years in this market in our country. And if anyone has doubts about the last statement, let them carefully observe the development of this branch in the next year or two and without a doubt, they will find that behind the changes in question in the Gambling Act there is no political will in the interest of society, but a very specific business plan .
However, who exactly will continue to collect billions from this business in Bulgaria, thanks to the political backing of GERB and DPS, we have yet to see. No doubt, however, somewhere out there – in the dark, there is someone who, with these changes, is really only building up his future business and marketing strategy, not someone who has taken care of the pensioners or the oligarchy kids in the kindergartens.
If we add to this whole picture and the fact that by limiting television advertising on such a scale, perhaps certain interests are preparing to seize one of the two big private television stations, the general background becomes even dirtier.
In this line of thinking, the only hope left is that President Rumen Radev will veto these nonsense, and that the next parliament will actually make meaningful changes that actually meet the public interest and good European practices. If this is not done, more than 25,000 people will be out of work, and the state will lose billions.