Greek Cyprus is planning to launch a regulated online gambling market starting in October.
Ioanna Fiakkou, president of the Cyprus National Betting Authority, announced that the authority would begin accepting online betting applications as of October 3. By November 3, any gambling site that failed to submit an application within that one-month window will have its domain added to the country’s online blacklist, according to a report at CalvinAyre.com.
Cyprus passed gambling legislation in 2012 that banned online casinos, poker and exchange betting, while giving Greek gaming firm OPAP an effective monopoly over other online products. In 2013, the European Commission included Cyprus in a list of European Union member states whose gambling legislation was considered questionable under the EU’s internal market rules on the free movement of services, according to the report.
Cypriot finance minister Harris Georgiades said the change is part of a strategy to boost tax revenue via gambling expansion. Other moves include awarding a license for one brick-and-mortar casino, the licensing of video lottery terminals at sub-venues run by the casino operator and privatizing the operation of the state lottery.
According to CalvinAyre.com. Cyprus also intends to regulate OPAP’s betting games via legislation rather than through a bilateral agreement with Greece. This change is necessary given that the Greek government sold its one-third stake in OPAP to private operators in 2013.
