Gambling Law: Who are the people who received gifts due to Novomatic's entry into the FBiH market

Before the delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of FBiH tomorrow will be the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Gambling. Earlier, by a majority vote of HDZ, the Law was adopted in the House of Representatives, and before that, by the Government of FBiH.

The Law on Gambling has sharpened the political situation in the Federation in recent weeks. Amendments to the Law on Gambling were proposed by SDA and its Secretary General Amir Zukić. According to the law as favored by Zukić, all gambling winnings in the territory of FBiH would be taxed at the expense of players, except for those realized in slot machine clubs, on slot machines. And slot machines in the Federation exist only in the branches of Lutrija BiH. They are the property of the Austrian corporation Novomatic, which shares the profit from slot machines with Lutrija BiH, or even takes a larger portion of that profit.

Domestic gambling operators claim that the new Gambling Law, as proposed by Zukić and SDA, would put them in an unequal position compared to slot machine clubs. They would also be in an unequal position with online betting shops and gray market betting shops, where players do not have to pay taxes on winnings. Simply put, if Zukić's law is adopted, it will be more profitable for players in FBiH to win on slot machines or online betting shops than with domestic gambling operators.

Domestic operators fear that after this law, they would have to lay off several thousand workers, and the multi-million tax they pay annually to the federal treasury would be significantly reduced.

A source from the Patria agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explains that the new gambling law in FBiH was not proposed by chance in the form in which it was proposed. The Austrian group Novomatic aims to weaken domestic bookmakers and take over the market primacy. They are doing this precisely through changes in legislation. They followed a similar procedure when entering Croatia. They also tried to enter Serbia and Montenegro, but the local authorities there rejected them.

- Among politicians, they find lobbyists who draft laws according to their measures, and then they reward them handsomely for it - says this interlocutor.

- In my tavern in Vienna, negotiations were conducted (regarding the entry of Novomatic machines into BiH). It might have been in 2004 or 2005. At that time, there were three men from BiH - says this interlocutor.

When asked by a Patria journalist whether these people are some of the current or former politicians, this interlocutor replies that they introduced themselves as coming from Lutrija BiH.

- All the time at the table, they sat with people from Novomatic. More precisely, with one of the directors of this company. I knew him well. That director was also my friend. We are no longer friends. I attended the unofficial part of the conversation, when there was eating and drinking. The people from BiH later stayed in Vienna for several more days, and all the time they drove around with people from Novomatic. I did not see what happened on those trips, but these negotiations did not end just like that.

When asked if I think the people from BiH received a bribe from Novomatic, this interlocutor briefly replies:

- They were probably rewarded, handsomely.

On the website of Lutrija BiH, it is stated that at this moment, in 53 Lutrija clubs across the Federation of BiH, 1,000 Novomatic slot machines are operating.

In another 70 Lutrija payment-sales points, 420 slot machines are also installed, among which there are Novomatic machines.

The Novomatic affair shook Austria a few years ago as well. Austrian journalist Tobias Kleber published a book about Novomatic's influence on politics. In Italy, some people were also convicted in connection with Novomatic.

The President of the European Organization for the Regulation of Gambling, Nikos Roumnakis, warned the federal authorities at the beginning of the week that the new Gambling Law, if adopted, would destroy legal gambling operators in the territory of FBiH. In a letter he sent to the Chairwoman of the House of Peoples of FBiH, Lidija Bradara, he wrote that the model of the Gambling Law, as it will come before the delegates of the House of Peoples on Thursday, does not exist anywhere in the world.

Rade Karan, director of the Association of Gambling Operators from Serbia, and Danko Vojnović, director of the Croatian Association of Sports Betting Shops, also warned that if the Gambling Law is adopted in FBiH as proposed by Zukić and SDA, the FBiH budget will suffer multi-million losses, writes Patria.