With the adoption of the Law on Games of Chance in the Macedonian Parliament, the Government has made one of the most harmful economic and legal decisions in the country. Despite the warnings of the domestic and international expert public, economic analyses, arguments of the legal industry and numerous appeals for a public debate, a law was passed that will not protect citizens, but will create conditions for the destruction of the legal market and the expansion of illegal gambling, the Association of Sports Betting Companies of Macedonia (ASOM) said in a press release Tuesday.
The Association of Sports Betting Companies of Macedonia (ASOM) once again points out that the law was passed without a substantive dialogue with the sector it represents, which accounts for more than 95 percent of the legal market, without a transparent public debate and without accepting a single argument of domestic and foreign experts who warned that the proposed solutions are economically unsustainable, legally controversial and contrary to European standards.
The assessment is that the consequences will be serious and far-reaching, with around 10,000 jobs directly at risk; more than 50,000 jobs in related industries – the IT sector, security, transport, marketing, suppliers and numerous other economic sectors – will be negatively affected; more than 800 business buildings will remain empty, with serious consequences for the real estate market; the state risks losing more than 350 million euros in budget revenues that are currently legally paid, and those funds will end up in the gray economy.
