Premier Kladionica Director: The Fate of 35,000 People is in the Hands of the Delegates of the House of Peoples of FBiH

A vote for the amendments to the Law on Games of Chance as proposed by the FBiH Government is actually a vote for closing domestic companies and handing over the domestic market of games of chance to the Austrian company Novomatic. A vote against such amendments to this law is the only professional, and even humane, act that can prevent individuals from the ruling coalition from enriching themselves by selling the domestic market. This is what Krešo Vukoja, director of Premier Kladionica, claims for Patria.

Delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH will continue the 14th and 15th regular sessions of this house, which began earlier, on Thursday. The agenda of the 15th session also includes the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Games of Chance. Domestic organizers of games of chance believe that the delegates are actually deciding tomorrow whether domestic betting shops will be closed or continue to operate, i.e., whether about 5,500 workers will remain employed or have to go home.

- If the House of Peoples adopts the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Games of Chance tomorrow, with the amendments recently determined by the FBiH Government, it will mean that the delegates have agreed to close domestic betting shops, that they have agreed for 5,500 citizens of the Federation to lose their jobs, for 3,000 landlords to lose their monthly rental income... i.e., they agree to hand over the domestic market to the Austrian Novomatic – Vukoja believes.

- If we consider that an average family has four members, in the hands of the delegates of the House of Peoples on Thursday is not just the Law, but the fate of about 35,000 citizens of the Federation of BiH, who live off the income that their family members earn through work or cooperation with domestic betting shops – Vukoja added.

He believes that the delegates of the House of Peoples must take the political and human responsibility entrusted to them by the citizens of the Federation and tomorrow 'reject' the amendments to the Law on Games of Chance as proposed by the FBiH Government.

- This is not a game. It is about the lives of 35,000 people. Whoever votes for the law has agreed to leave these people without a source of income, without bread – says Vukoja.

He accused people from the international company Novomatic of bribing individuals from political circles in BiH to pass a law that would be detrimental to domestic betting shops and beneficial to Novomatic, which already operates in BiH.

The amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, as recently adopted by the FBiH Government, provide for multiple taxation for domestic betting shops, but not the same taxation for games on Novomatic machines.

- Novomatic bought the state lottery of Albania at the beginning of this month, and their director Harald Neumann said at the time that they want to continue conquering other markets in this part of Europe. It is a known fact that Novomatic already cooperates with Lutrija BiH. They have about 1,500 of their machines in this BiH company. It is significant that the amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, which the delegates of the House of Peoples will vote on Thursday, stipulate that all deposits and all winnings are taxed for domestic organizers, while neither deposits nor winnings are taxed on Novomatic machines. This clearly indicates that the FBiH Government wants to favor Novomatic with this law at the expense of domestic betting shops, in order to hand over the domestic market to this company – Vukoja believes.

He says that at this moment there is too much evidence to confirm his claims.

- The amendment to the Law on Games of Chance was neither in the Reform Agenda 2014-2018, nor in the Work Plan of this Government for 2016. However, at the beginning of 2016, SDA representative in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament Ramiz Meša appeared with a proposal to amend the Law on Games of Chance, after which this law became a paramount political issue in the Federation. After that, the initiative was taken over by Amir Zukić and Omer Škaljo, and then by the Minister of Finance Jelka Milićević. The result of their proposal on how the amended Law on Games of Chance should look is such that betting shops would have to pay 187 million KM in taxes on 150 million KM in revenue. Such a thing is impossible. The same Law would tax Novomatic company's machines many times less. I think it is more than clear that individuals from the FBiH Government have decided to favor Novomatic for personal gain. The delegates of the House of Peoples must gather strength and resist pressure from party circles and make the right decision, or they will bear the fate of 35,000 people on their conscience – says Vukoja.

The director of Premier Kladionica accuses the FBiH Government of deception and malfeasance.

- The FBiH Government said they copied the law from Croatia. Firstly, that law has also brought organizers to the brink of ruin in Croatia, and Croatia is already working on amendments to its law on games of chance. Secondly, that law in Croatia was passed before Croatia joined the European Union and is contrary to European standards. Thirdly, and most importantly, Croatia does not have RNG games, which account for as much as 85 percent of the total business of betting shops in the Federation, and therefore it is impossible to apply the Croatian taxation model in the Federation. The FBiH Government knows this very well; this is a classic public deception – Vukoja accuses.

The solution to all disagreements regarding the Law on Games of Chance in FBiH can be quite simple, claims the director of Premier Kladionica.

- If the FBiH Government truly wants to regulate this activity, it will withdraw this proposed amendment and return the Law to the regular procedure. It will form an expert working group that will conduct an expert analysis of all economic and financial data and, through public debate, create a law that will not tax players, i.e., citizens, but betting shops, and will satisfy both the Federation's budget and the organizers. It will enact a law modeled after Western European countries with a stable tax system and a zero-tolerance policy for corruption. If they do not want any of this, if they care about individuals from coalition parties enriching themselves by favoring Novomatic, then they will adopt this law tomorrow and leave 35,000 workers on the street, and the Federation of BiH will be harmed by more than 200 million KM annually – says Vukoja.

Private organizers of games of chance are announcing mass protests in front of the FBiH Parliament building if the House of Peoples adopts the controversial amendments to the Law on Games of Chance. They are prepared, they warn, to bring up to 20,000 people to the protests, writes Patria.