Unibet pledges Romanian investment following licence approval
Stockholm-listed operator affirms "long-term commitment" to the market after being granted 10-year licence
Unibet has promised to invest in the Romanian online gambling market after the operator received a full licence from the country’s regulator this week.
The Stockholm-listed firm was granted one of the country’s 10-year licences by the National Office for Gambling (ONJN) and said it had a “long-term commitment” to the newly regulated south eastern European market.
Unibet is the latest operator to receive a licence from the ONJN, after operators including GVC, Amaya and 888 were all recently granted regulatory approval having previously operated in the market under an interim licence for the past year.
“Unibet wants a long-term relationship with the players in Romania, which we consider our partners locally,” the operator’s country manager, Lucian Prisecaru, said.
“Thus, we have confirmed our commitment to remain in Romania and to comply with all legal requirements in order to benefit from the perpetual license from ONJN.
“We promise to invest in permanently increasing customer satisfaction, as well as providing a platform of safe gaming and performance using the latest technologies.”
Market leading positions in the Romanian sportsbook market are up for grabs due to the absence of sports betting giant bet365 â the operator last year had its licence revoked by the country’s regulator, a decision bet365 failed to have overturned by the courts in January.
Unibet currently holds licences in Romania, the UK, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein), Italy, Australia, Ireland and Estonia. It also holds international gambling licences in Malta, Gibraltar and Alderney.
In July it reported a 57% year-on-year rise in Q2 revenues following a successful Euro 2016 tournament and strong growth from the operator’s mobile business.
The firm recorded gross winnings revenue (GWR) of £126.6m during the quarter, up from £80.5m compared to the same period last year, while underlying EBITDA increased from £19m to £22m.