CYPRUS - ONLINE Focus
players inside it shops.
“The betting bill does not justify the objective of curbing of gambling addiction. OPAP, the monopolist undertaking, also offers online games, thus creating risks of addiction. OPAP is not subject to state supervision or monitoring for preventing money laundering and its games are also prohibited by the betting bill but this is overlooked without any justification.”
As online gaming via providers licensed from other EU member states it is technically allowed (or rather not disallowed) and due to an absence of regulation in recent years a number of gaming companies mainly from the UK and Malta have, of course, provided their online products.
Meanwhile there are a number of bookmaking companies operating in Cyprus including Ladbrokes and Betfair which are some of the most popular online gaming sites in Cyprus.
StanleyBet International has a big presence in southern Cyprus and is governed under its StanleyBet Malta Limited company. The company has a total of 2,000 outlets across Europe and holds licenses in the UK, Croatia, Romania and Malta. StanleyBet is now one of the leading cross border retail sports betting groups with intermediaries in Cyprus, Germany and Italy.
The first Stanleybet shop was established in Cyprus in August 2006 and today the company has 85 shops throughout the island offering a full range of sportsbetting products with a RNG product similar to that offered in the UK licensed betting shops.
Brian Wade of Stanleybet said: “This RNG product offers betting opportunities on graphically displayed football, horseracing, greyhounds and motor racing events.
“Stanleybet welcomes the introduction of the draft regulation the main elements of
G3 I MAY 2011 I PAGE 33
“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.”
Olga Georgiades , Lexact Solutions Ltd.
which include the introduction of a fit and proper test to ensure the legality and integrity of prospective license holders and a 10 per cent gross profits tax which would effectively exclude customers from tax which would be paid by bookmakers dependent upon the level of their profits. It would also be an offence to possess or operate slot machines or any machines through which online casino services can be provided and would require any individual or company wishing to offer betting services to hold an appropriate license and also a submission to the National Betting Authority of annual audited accounts.”
MegaBet is another major bookmaker company in Cyprus which was founded in 1987 and is now owned by the Zenon Group. Megabet has a 40 per cent market share with around 100 betting outlets. There are around 250 betting shops in Cyprus in total and the betting sector is controlled by the Ministry of Finance.
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