Slovenia’s Ministry of Finance has plans in place to review the country’s gambling strategy after nearly 13 years.

The current 2013 regulations are under review with the aims to update the strategy currently in place as well as implement further systematic changes in relation to the gambling industry.

An external independent contractor will be engaged to propose changes which will be based on an analysis of Slovenia’s gambling sector and will include a comprehensive consideration of EU Court of Justice case law.

The ministry made a statement emphasising the delicate nature of their regulatory endeavours:

“The activity of arranging games of chance, on the one hand, can have a significant impact on economic and tourism development and, on the other hand, it can affect society in a specific way that is not typical of other economic activities.”

Proposed changes

The updated strategy will address concession grants and responsible gambling regulations.

The ministry has stated that it is considering updating the current legal basis for organising games of chance that will both be sustainable in the long term and internationally competitive.

This is in the hopes that the Slovenian industry will complement efforts to increase revenue based on tourism, while also addressing domestic demand.

All of these aims are also predicated on the adequate enforcement of problem gambling protections and minimising the risk of gambling addiction and its effects.

Additionally, these proposals will be made available for public consultation.

Industry stakeholders

This Slovenian review comes in light of increased industry interest in the Central and Eastern European (CCE) region.

International industry giants such as Entain and SuperBet have previously placed bids for the acquisition of Slovenia’s sports betting monopoly – ?portna Loterija, but these bids were aborted in July.

Although these bids were unsuccessful, these movements show a tangible interest and quite a comprehensive one at that, with both operators offering €50m in exchange for 100% of ?portna Loterija’s shares.

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