August 2 - Greece remains defiant in its stand that it will pass its own
online gambling laws, with or without the approval of the European Commission.
The country was required to make changes in its laws to allow the industry to
generate much needed funds, as part of Greece's debt obligations to the European
Union and the International Monetary Fund. In addition, Greece was due to sell
its stake in the state gambling monopoly, OPAP.
However, despite the fact that the government's draft proposal was declared
non-compliant with EU laws, the country has decided to go ahead with the
proposal, adopting a 'come what may' attitude - instead of addressing the issues
at hand.
Although the government promised to sell its stake in OPAP by the fourth
quarter of the year, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos announced this week
that the government had not actually pledged to sell the group, and may not do
so after all.
£1.17 Billion
The Greek government's 34% stake in OPAP is said to be worth
about £1.17 billion, while selling online gaming licenses linked to OPAP
could bring in another €500 million. This type of money could clearly go
towards clearing at least part of the national debt.
The government is trying to seek out alternatives to selling its
stake in OPAP, including extending the groups license or offering the group an
exclusive license to operate the 35,000 new lotto machines to be set up in
Greece.
However, it is clear that no other alternative, besides selling
its stake, will bring the government the funds it so desperately needs.
The question is whether the Greek government will be ready to
relinquish control over such as prosperous entity and many believe that it is
simply unable to. As Venizelos told his parliament: "OPAP's value is not only
its shares but also the value of exercising its management."
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