Organizers: New law in FBiH will move betting to foreign bookmakers

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, Edin Mušić, has stated in his media appearances these days that he expects a new legal solution in the field of games of chance to be adopted soon, which was determined and sent to the parliamentary procedure by the FBiH Government, and which will first be considered by the delegates of the House of Peoples next Thursday, and then, if adopted, by the representatives of the House of Representatives.

- After certain agreements, the model was accepted that the Law on Games of Chance in FBiH will largely be a copy of the legal solutions from Croatia, as one of the European countries - said Mušić.

Domestic organizers of games of chance are disappointed and claim that the campaign of certain parties and politicians who want to destroy domestic companies is continuing.

- It is absurd to copy the law from Croatia, when Croatia does not have RNG games at all, and which make up 85% of the organizers' turnover in the Federation of BiH. It is even more absurd to copy the law from Croatia, and a procedure for assessing the constitutionality of that law has been initiated there, and it is possible that it will be declared unconstitutional. Therefore, we could have an unbelievable situation where the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia declares the law unconstitutional, and such a law is adopted in the Federation of BiH - claim domestic organizers of games of chance. They claim that certain politicians from FBiH are working in favor of foreign organizers. They accuse Edin Mušić, Jelka Milićević, Fadil Novalić, and Amir Zukić, writes Patria.

- It is enough to look at the draft law determined by the FBiH Government, which was prepared by the Federal Ministry of Finance headed by Minister Jelka Milićević. It provides for a 15% tax on gross income for slot machine clubs owned by foreigners, while domestic bookmakers are subject to a 20% tax on gross income for RNG games and an additional 10% to 30% on all winnings. It is clear even to a layman that domestic bookmakers are taxed much more heavily, and the question arises why the FBiH Government intends to tax domestic bookmakers more than foreign ones, unless there are private interests involved - say domestic organizers.

They claim to know who is behind it all.

- The Austrian concern Novomatic is fiercely attacking the market in this part of Europe. They have already become 100% owners of the state lottery of Albania, in Montenegro, after more than 50 years, the state lottery has ceased to operate, only Novomatic slot machines remain, and it is known that this Austrian giant has tried to push similar laws in Croatia and Serbia as the one proposed by the FBiH Government. Through their company HTL d.o.o. Sarajevo, they already have more than 1,500 slot machines in the BiH Lottery alone and many more in their casinos, so it is clear who certain individuals from the FBiH Government are working for when proposing higher taxes for domestic bookmakers and lower taxes for slot machines like those produced and installed by Novomatic – claim domestic organizers.

They hope that not all delegates in the House of Peoples and representatives in the House of Representatives are ready to vote in favor of the Government's proposal.

- This is about implementing a plan to destroy domestic bookmakers and hand over the market to foreigners, from which only a narrow circle of politicians will financially benefit. With the collapse of domestic bookmakers, 5,500 jobs will be lost, 2,500 property owners will lose rental income, and the budget of the Federation of BiH will lose 200 million KM annually. Betting in FBiH will not stop, it will only move to foreign organizers, from which FBiH will gain no benefit. We hope and believe that not all delegates of the House of Peoples and representatives of the House of Representatives are ready to sell domestic companies and jobs - concluded domestic organizers.