Focus
CYPRUS - ONLINE
CYPRUS: VITAL STATISTICS Capital: Nicosia Population: 1,102,677 Land Area: 9,251
sq.km Median age: 35 years Languages: Greek and Turkish, English. Ethnic Groups: Greek (77%), Turkish (18%) and other (5%) Religions: Greek Ortho (78%), Muslim (18%) Currency: Euro / Turkish Lira Government: Republic / Democratic Republic Chief of State: President Demetris Christofias/ Irsen Kucu Head of Government: President Demetris Christofias/ Irsen Kucu Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed jointly by the president and vice- president. Elections: President elected by popular vote for a five year term. Last election held in 2008 and next due in 2013.
or two years from the date on which it was issued or renewed. Charges for licenses (until regulations are enacted)
will be €3,000 for a one year license or €5,500 for a two year license.
• Bookmaker premises must be at least 15 sq.m in size, not directly connected to any other shop, office or premises
• Class B bookmakers must register players whilst no cash is accepted only credit and debit cards and wire transfers. No amount over €350 will be paid into a players account until their identity and age has been ascertained.
• All Class A and B licensed bookmakers will pay a betting tax which shall be 10 per cent of the net receipts.
The government had hoped to implement the new bill by January this year however Malta and the UK have expressed their opposition to the Cyprus online gambling ban considering it as being in breach of EU rules. EU directives require that there must be a public consultation and an impact study on possible repercussions before the preparation of any bill and so the ban is now delayed until feedback which was due last month.
“We welcome the introduction of the
draft regulation, the main elements of
which include fit and proper tests to
ensure the legality and integrity of
prospective licence holders.”
Brian Wade, Stanleybet.
Questions put forward include – how customers would pay for any regulated online gaming? Why the numbers of licensees included in the draft are so limited? They also require clarification on some provisions which appear to be discriminatory among providers of these internet services.
One of the contentions in Cyprus is that the Greek lottery and sports betting company OPAP operates in Cyprus and offers its games under a monopolistic basis. OPAP was established in 1958 in Greece. In 2003 the company OPAP (Cyprus) Ltd was set up as a private company to operate all the games of OPAP in Cyprus. The company’s turnover in 2009 came to €197m with a gross profit of €14m.
OPAP has been operating its existing range of games such as numerical lottery games like Lotto, Proto, Joker, Super and Extra in Cyprus since 1969. In 2003 it purchased 90 per cent of the shares of Cypriot company Glory Leisure Holdings
G3 I MAY 2011 I PAGE 30
– and the company then began to offer fixed odds sports betting games and Kino in Cyprus. Meanwhile OPAP also acquired 20 per cent shares of Glory Technology which provides software technology. Today OPAP has 165 agencies in Cyprus.
Olga Georgiades added: “The bill is considered to affect intra community trade and to be incompatible with the fundamental freedoms of the EC treaty. It violates European Competition Law and recent decisions of the European Court of Justice. Furthermore it imposes certain absolute prohibitions on online gaming which are not reasonably and objectively justified for the following reasons:
“A profit making company (OPAP) has acquired exclusive rights under a concession agreement without the application of a tender. OPAP is now engaged in excessive advertising for the purpose of satisfying its pure profit making purposes. OPAP uses Sports Betting Activities to attract online gaming
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