Hills, Betway and Unibet fall foul of new Lithuania laws
Trio placed on country's blacklist after authorities judge them to have operated without a licence
Websites belonging to William Hill, Betway and Unibet have been blocked in the Republic of Lithuania after authorities found the trio to be operating in the country without a licence.
Following local court orders, the firms have been placed on Lithuania’s new blacklist and are the first operators to appear on the register following the launch of the country’s new remote gaming framework on 1 January.
Speaking to eGaming Review, Skirmante Paukstiene, chief specialist at the government’s division of legislation, staff and general affairs, confirmed the three names and suggested the operators had been acting ‘illegally’.
“As established in the Gaming Law of the Republic of Lithuania, in case the Gaming Control Authority finds out that the illegal gambling operator, not licensed in the Republic of Lithuania, is organising remote gambling, the authority has the right to issue binding orders to stop the illegal activity, also to stop payments and access to illegal gambling sites, after the Courts’ order is received,” Skirmante said.
“It doesn’t mean that the mentioned companies can no longer apply for a gambling licence,” he added. “On the contrary, they can apply for a licence for online gambling activity in Lithuania.”
When contacted by EGR, both Unibet and Betway said they would not comment on the development except to say they were “monitoring the situation”, however, William Hill denied any illegal activity.
“We do indeed currently accept bets from Lithuania, which is EU compliant,” a William Hill spokesperson said. “We are also fully aware of legal developments and will be monitoring them carefully – we do not operate in countries where we deem it to be illegal to accept bets.”
The new Lithuanian framework requires operators to have a land-based presence in the country before being able to gain a remote licence. Territories applying a similar requirement have previously faced questions as to whether this stipulation is in breach of EU law.
EGR understands Betway has since informed customers it will be closing its Lithuanian operations and has advised customers to withdraw their money by the end of the month.