Licensing of Online Gambling in Greece Continues

The Deputy Finance Minister announced that the government will proceed with the licensing of online gambling in Greece.

The Greek government would proceed with the licensing of internet casinos, announced Alternate Minister of Finance Finance, Tryfon Alexiadis. Furthermore, he stated that it’s time to end the transition period of online gambling in Greece. 

Currently 24 internet casinos offer services for the country’s citizens. However, the tax revenues from these operators were minimal.

Low tax revenues from online gambling in Greece

In March 2015, then Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis said that online gambling might aid the struggling country. In his 11-page letter to Eurozone officials, he proposed seven reforms. One of them was about the distribution of more online gambling licenses for EUR 3 million. The official statistics from 2014 showed that there’s plenty of space for more internet casinos.

In 2014, there were more online casino players than the previous years. The gambling industry grew by 9 percent from 2013. Wagers per capita grew by 7,2 percent, from EUR 172 to EUR 182. The number of gambling addicts in Greece has increased by 20-25 percent. Experts attribute this to the economic crisis. According to a Greek therapy center, people don’t spend as much on gambling as some years ago, however, they are more involved in gambling.