Albania lawmakers intend to close down betting shops

Despite pressure from Albania’s powerful gambling industry, a parliamentary commission has approved a proposed legislation to shut down betting shops and electronic casinos across the country.

Parliament is expected to vote it into law next Thursday - a measure cautiously welcomed by the public but not by the country’s large betting industry, Balkan Insight reports.

The opposition claims meanwhile that the legislation is intended to create a monopoly for a newly-founded company that has a license to operate an online betting service.

Speaking in parliament, the head of the commission, Erjon Brace, said MPs have received “criminal threats” over the proposed law.

Responding to opposition claims, the Parliamentary Commission added a new clause in the proposed law including the closure of the country's sole online betting service.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama caught the public off guard on October 10 when he unexpectedly announced a proposal to close down all the betting shops and electronic casinos in the country by the first day of January 2019.

"In the territory of the Republic of Albania, after January 1, there will be no betting shop or electronic casino," Rama said.

For about two weeks after the announcement, the powerful gambling industry in the country stayed silent, refusing to comment publicly, apparently preferring to negotiate behind the scenes.

But on Monday, an association representing the industry sent an open letter to the government, urging the authorities to not close down betting shops but offering to cut their number by half by 2019 and to further lower the number over the next several years "until they reach a normal situation for a democratic country".

At a press conference on Monday, the association also threatened a legal challenge, claiming a legitimate right to do business.

The gambling industry in Albania is huge. Albanians spent about 124 million euros during 2017 in electronic casinos and on sports betting, according financial statements of licensed gambling companies analyzed by BIRN. However, some says this figure shows only the official marked while much of it is illegal. The Prime Minister Rama said the marked starves about 700 million Euros from Albanians each year, suggesting an informality rate of about 80%.

Across the country there are currently about 4,300 betting shops, a huge number in a country in which the adult population is 2.1 million.

Rama’s announcement received cautious applause from the public but a degree of skepticism.

The electronic casinos industry has managed to avoid closure since at least 2004, when Albania approved a law aiming to consolidate the market in four large casinos and to close the rest of the outlets scattered across the country.

As for betting shops, the current government has attempted to lower their numbers by imposing distance criteria and increasing licensing fees since at least 2015, but attempts have twice been blocked by industry intervention.

Facing questions over ‘state capture’ by the gambling industry, Rama said on Monday that back in 2016, he didn't have a "parliamentary majority due to the enormous pressure on his MPs".

He was referring to an instance when some of his MPs proposed a change in the law to benefit the gambling industry.

The statement caught the journalists by surprise, owning to the fact that Rama has proved to have total control of his MPs on several controversial issues.

Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party claims the government initiative to close down betting shops aims to create a monopoly for a company that has a license to operate an online outlet.

Responding to the allegations, Rama said that the claim was "a defamation" and that his government was also working to block access to online betting shops.

A new clause was added on Tuesday morning in the law explicitly banning also online gambling.