Changes are going to be made in the Bulgarian socially responsible gambling sector


Changes are going to be made in the Bulgarian socially responsible gambling sector

The recent development in the Gambling sector of Bulgaria lead us to contact, Marina Ivanova, the Head of PR in State Commission on Gambling in Bulgaria, to get the right explanation regarding any changes in the country’s legislation. Mrs. Marina explained that the changes are going to be made in the socially responsible gambling sector.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance is looking to make changes in the way the socially responsible gambling is governed.

In the Gambling Act are enshrined gambling operators to pay annual contributions for socially responsible behavior.

Their size depends on the type of gambling games they organize. Revenues from those annual installments go to the budget of the State Commission on Gambling and the collected funds are planned to be spent to finance approved projects of legal non-profit entity designated for the public benefit, for activities:

  1. Preventing young people from gambling;
  2. Prevention and treatment of problem gambling;
  3. Conducting socially responsible advertising and marketing.

It is expected that in May 2015 by the proposal of Minister of Health, Minister of Youth and Sports and the Minister of Finance, the Council of Ministers will adopt an ordinance to determine:

  1. The conditions and terms for the spending of the contributions for socially responsible behavior;
  2. Conditions and terms of recruitment, assessment and selection of proposals for activities: preventing young people from gambling; prevention and treatment of gambling addiction and conducting socially responsible advertising and marketing;
  3. The requirements for operations and accountability of individuals with projects approved for financing activities, mentioned in the previous point;
  4. The conditions and procedures for monitoring the implementation of projects financed by the funds, collected for socially responsible behavior.

This future regulation is consistent with the European legislation in the field of gambling. Conduct of responsible gambling is a major priority of the European Union (EU) and each Member State is encouraged to take national measures to socially responsible behavior of the gambling organizers and measures to protect young people from gambling as well as prevention and treatment of problem gambling.

More detailed and comprehensive information will be provided within a few months.