Baltic-based casino group Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) has announced that it will close nine of its Lithuanian betting shops and two Lithuanian casinos due to increases in the taxes on bingo, arcade gaming and betting. The tax rate will rise 3 percent, from 15 percent to 18 percent. Online gaming operators is taxed at a fixed 13 percent of revenues.
“Initiatives to aggressively change the tax environment not only create uncertainty but have also forced us to rethink and change our business model,” said Saulius Petravičius, OEG managing director for Lithuania. “We will move the activity from the closed facilities to other operating units, such as betting shops, casinos or the remote gambling platform. This is how we respond to changing market conditions so that we can ensure the sustainability of our business through legal action.”
In April, Olympic was fined €495,500 by the Lithuania Gaming Control Authority for failing to verify the identity of several players who exchanged large amounts of money at its gaming tables.
