show me the money Experiencing its third recession in a little over a decade, Estonia has been
upfront and honest in its decision to regulate and licence online gaming in the country - it needs all the cash it can get.
Although there are several reasons why some countries have embraced remote gambling, for Estonia, the reasoning behind it was pure and simple. Financial.
Estonia’s online gaming industry was born in 2009 and was primarily launched in a response to dig itself out of the global financial crisis and meet the Eurozone’s strict criteria.
Estonia is a small Baltic state bordering Russia. It is one of the smallest EU countries with just 1.3 million population. Because of its bridging position between Europe and Russia, Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union and Germany and it wasn’t until 1991 that the country finally regained independence.
At this time the country began an aggressive and effective reform and growth programme and became one of the world’s fastest growing economies for several years. It then joined the EU in 2004 and adopted the Euro in January 2011 becoming the 17th country to do so.
Before the 2008/09 global financial crisis Estonia had all the criteria for a definite entry for the Euro currency requirements. However as the global crisis spread it became the second most damaged country in the EU and its economy dropped by around 36 per cent.
This is the country’s third recession since the country regained independence in 1991 and
an estimated 80 peR cent of
estonian adults
have GamBled and the offeRinG of online GaminG was seen as the
next loGical step.
Estonia is notably proactive in pulling itself out of bad situations. The last one was in 1999 after exports to Russia collapsed.
So the country has been doing everything possible to drag itself out of the recession and exports are the main drive behind the revival it seems. And it seems to be working. In April the Ministry of Finance predicted that the Estonian economy would grow this year and also next year by four per cent.
Employment is also expected to rise by 2.2 per cent this year and unemployment is expected to decrease to 13.5 per cent as an annual average. But in order to achieve Euro currency status a country must meet strict criteria. And
this is where the online industry steps in.
There are currently around 170 land based casinos and slot halls in over 12 cities already available to the gamblers in the country. Tax is high and averages out at around 18 per cent and these venues are only available to players aged 21 and over.
Despite this however an estimated 80 per cent of Estonian adults have gambled and the offering of online gaming is seen as the next logical step. Estonia’s plan was that the gaming taxes from the online sector would help revive the economy with the added income and influx of new jobs.
In 2009 the country adopted a new Gambling Act which replaced the 1995 Gambling Act. The new act was published in a bid to keep up with the changing situation within the gaming sector and improve the quality of gambling services by imposing stricter requirements. It also covered the regulations of remote gambling.
The new legislation saw provisions in three stages – most gaming laws came into force in January 2009, the remote gambling followed in January 2010 and provisions regulating electronic accounting and supervision of gambling systems entered in January 2011. Further changes to the legislation are now expected in January 2012 which concerns
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