Include conclusions from international conference in drafting the Law on Games of Chance

Organizers of games of chance from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have called on federal authorities to consider the Consensus, which participants of the international conference “Taxation in the European Gaming Industry” agreed upon in Sarajevo on January 25 this year, Patria reports.

An international conference titled “Taxation in the European Gaming Industry” was held in Sarajevo at the end of January, organized by the European Organization for Gaming Regulation (EOGL).

EOGL sent invitations to participate in the conference to the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Tax Administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Organizers of games of chance explain that from all the mentioned institutions, only representatives of the cabinet of the Chairperson of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lidija Bradara, attended the conference, while the Office of the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent thanks for the invitation but apologized for being unable to attend due to prior commitments.

- These are the only two institutions that showed responsibility and responded to the invitation – say the organizers, criticizing that no one from other federal institutions appeared at the conference.

- We express deep dissatisfaction and disappointment with the fact that the mentioned institutions, primarily the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Ministry of Finance, have shown no interest whatsoever in the methods and models of taxing games of chance in European Union countries and regional countries. Representatives of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Ministry of Finance completely ignored the European Organization for Gaming Regulation and, by not attending the conference, disgraced the institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as employers who employ 5,500 workers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – state the organizers of games of chance in a letter addressed to the public.

- Since the conference was held during the public debate on drafting the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, which has been the subject of discussions in the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and both houses of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for months, we believe that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Ministry of Finance have proven by their absence that they do not respect the opinions, positions, and experiences of European Union countries and experts. We express our concern over this extremely irresponsible approach to drafting the proposed law, on which the future of 5,500 workers and 2,600 property owners, as well as 80 million KM in direct annual revenues to the federal budget, depends – the letter from the organizers states. They call on institutions to analyze the Consensus agreed upon by participants of the international conference in Sarajevo a few days ago, NAP reports.