Zenica: Betting shops to pay up to 50,000 KM annually per betting point

Municipal taxes under the Proposal of the Decision on Amendments and Additions to the Decision on Municipal Taxes of the City of Zenica for betting points of private gambling operators will amount to up to 50,000 convertible marks. The Zenica City Council on Thursday, December 29, adopted the Proposal on specific amounts of municipal taxes which will directly affect the operations of private betting shops in this city, announced private gambling operators, reports Patria.

Private betting shops claim that more than 200 employees, from about 100 betting points in the Zenica area, will lose their jobs after this Decision, meaning private companies engaged in gambling will be forced to close their branches in Zenica.

The Mayor of Zenica, Fuad Kasumović, proposed, and the City Council supported, the Decision to increase taxes for each betting point by up to 50,000 KM annually.

The betting shop "Premier", after the session in Zenica, informed its employees that in the coming period, they will be forced to close branches in Zenica. Betting shops "Sport Plus" have a similar opinion.

- Our operations in the Zenica area will be impossible in the future, meaning costs and burdens exceed earnings and profits, so no economy can find a positive side to the mentioned Decision. About sixty employed Zenica residents in the company "Sport Plus" will most likely become part of the statistics of the Employment Bureau - they state from SK "Sport Plus".

Private operators said they express faith in the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH and hope that it will declare the Decision of the Zenica City Council unconstitutional, or prove that the councilors in Zenica acted contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the FBiH.