Bulgaria blacklist creates paradox, trade group says
Bulgarian association bemoans "missing" regulations as EU member state expands blacklist
Bulgaria’s online gambling regulations have created a “paradox” in which operators are penalised for the lack of accreditation but not told how to become licensed, according to industry group the Bulgarian Gaming Association (BTAMOGI).
This week 28 domains were added to the country’s egaming blacklist, augmenting the original list published earlier this month, with comments from the chairman of the country’s gambling commission adding to the confusion.
A number of blacklisted operators, including PartyPoker and Titan, reportedly either do not offer Bulgarian language support or actively block players from the EU member state, and have seemingly been added to the list by virtue of being or having been blacklisted in other territories.
However a number of those coming under this criterion have apparently already either withdrawn their offering from markets in which they are blacklisted, or secured licences and been removed from those blacklists accordingly.
“Titan Poker and Titan Bet have neither provided Bulgarian as an optional software language nor accepted Bulgarian players since 2006 – long before the trend towards regulation began in Bulgaria,” a spokesperson for Titan told eGaming Review.
“Furthermore, their Terms and Conditions clearly list Bulgaria as an excluded territory. The decision to include the Titan brands on Bulgaria’s egaming blacklist seems to be unfounded.”
This is further complicated by the fact that “missing” regulations provide an obstacle to the pursuit of egaming licences in Bulgaria, creating what BTAMOGI has described as a vacuum.
“The period set forth for the operators to bring their activities in accordance with the new law should start after the implementation of the subordinate regulations, and not with the date of the entry into effect of the Gambling Law,” BTAMOGI explained in a statement seen by eGaming Review.
Bulgarian ISPs were given the green light to block unlicensed gambling sites early last year, with gambling regulations being published last July. But despite the State Gambling Commission revealing at least one high-profile operator has inquired about a licence, there are still gaps in the regulatory regime.
“Before any restriction and control measures are enforced, the regulator should have created an environment where all the necessary regulations exist,” BTAMOGI said.