G3-247 Report LATVIA MARKET REPORT
In 2010 the Latvian government approved a long term strategy for tourism development and in 2011 the num- ber of incoming tourists from the USA increased by 14 per cent whilst Danish, Estonian and Norwegian visitors increased by 13 per cent.
THE GAMBLING MARKET Since independence the Latvian gambling market has
seen significant growth. Back in the early 1990s the growth was fairly uncoordinated which was mainly due to the lack of gambling regulations and most of the development began in the late 1990s onwards.
In the summer of 1991 the first casino opened in Latvia and around the same time the number of companies organising lotteries also began to grow.
All this changed in 1995 when a new law was intro- duced to regulate the sector. The Law on Lotteries and Gambling was adopted by Saeima (parliament) and was amended nine times over the next 10 years before being replaced in 2006.
In 2011 a new Gambling and Lotteries bill was drafted and if passed it is expected to change various elements of the gaming sector and will introduce tighter controls over gambling advertising and the operation of unli- censed and illegal operations.
At the moment the market is regulated by the Gambling and Lotteries Law of 2006. The draft bill, titled the same, was suggested as the current law does not cover all actualities of regulation of online gambling.
The new law is now expected to make the points of law more precise in terms of gambling and will contain a definition of a card game tournament for example. In the future when setting up a tournament the organiser will have to draft the rules and get confirmation from the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) that the rules are compatible with the new law.
consumption drive growth collapsed in 2008 and con- tinued until 2010 which was then exacerbated by the global economic crisis and the Latvian economy fell by 21 per cent.
The country endured one of the worst recessions in Europe and the social turmoil led to the fall of the Godmanis government in 2009 and unemployment soared to 20 per cent.
Latvia brought in austerity measures and implemented structural reforms however at the same time they did protect the vulnerable and strengthened the social safe- ty net. They also received a European Union bailout which helped it return to growth in 2011.
Latvia introduced the Euro currency in January 2014 and this has been viewed as an important objective of the exit strategy from the international loan programme.
Latvia returned to growth in the latter half of 2010. Meanwhile privatisation is now almost complete and virtually all the state owned small and medium compa- nies have been privatised. Foreign investment is still modest although a law was passed in 1997 expanding
Online operators will have to ensure the authorities are allowed to access systems
containing data about players and their bets and winnings. the scope for selling land to foreigners.
Latvia’s GDP increased in 2012 to five per cent whilst unemployment has declined to around 11 per cent.
The country is currently torn apart by divisions between nationalist and pro Moscow separatists. Russian speak- ers make up 40 per cent of the population and consume Russian media. On the other hand they do not want to join Russia. The two communities live fairly separate lives speaking predominantly one language or the other.
Meanwhile tourism is a fairly significant part of the country’s economy. After a slump in 2009 the country saw around 1.6 million visitors in 2011. The majority come from Estonia.
In addition the new law will also be able to block web- sites of those companies not registered in Latvia.
Online operators will also have to ensure the authorities are allowed to access information systems containing data about players and their bets and winnings.
It has also suggested that the age of players should be increased to 21 which is something that is being dis- cussed as some consider it should be 18 years.
At the moment the draft law is still being prepared and is not available as there are changes expected. However a report on the draft bill states: “Despite the strict con- trol of gambling and lotteries and licensing system a large number of unlicensed gambling in Latvia who carry out their activities in tax free jurisdictions, are for gambling online operations, thus exposing players to a large risk of fraud and failure to pay gambling taxes and fees and possible money laundering attempts. As a result this can cause damage to both players and the public interest and is in violation of the principles of fair competition in relation to licensed gambling organisers.
“The current wording of the law allows for the possibili- ty of different interpretations of the same gambling and
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