Bwin gets green light to enter Bulgaria
Operator awarded licences to operate its sportsbook and casino sites in the country
Bwin.party has been given the go-ahead to launch its sportsbook and casino products in the ring-fenced Bulgarian market, eGaming Review can confirm.
The operator, now owned by GVC Holdings, was awarded separate remote licenses for sports betting and casino games, and plans to launch ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 Championships.
Bwin said it was now working through the process of connecting its systems to the State Commission on Gambling and the National Revenue Agency.
The operator joins Betfair and PokerStars who entered the market in 2014, while bet365 and has submitted a licence application.
Bet365 and bwin parent company GVC both on the Bulgarian blacklist, which contains more than 150 unlicensed operators offering sites to players in the country.
On 1 January 2014, Bulgaria moved from a tax regime based on a 15% levy on stakes to a more attractive 20% rate applied to gross gaming revenues.
The move was aimed at generating extra tax revenues and stimulating a market which at the time contained just one operator – Malta-based Eurofootball.