Under ex-Yugoslavian rule there were no real gambling laws and there was a lot of confusion until the first legislation was established in 1998 called the Law on Games of Chance and Amusement Games. Later the gambling law of 2014 Zakon o Igrama Na Srecu was implemented and replaced the earlier law and this clarified the rules surrounding gambling both in online and offline capacity.
Andrej Plenkovic, heads the main conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and became Prime Minister in 2016 and was then re-elected in July 2020. Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic became President in early 2020.
Croatia’s GDP grew by six per cent in 2022 although the World Bank projection for this year is around 0.8 per cent growth, mostly due to inflation.
It’s not been an easy journey. In 2017 a scandal rocked the government when Agrokor, the largest private company in Croatia, faced bankruptcy to the tune of $6bn of debt and was about to send Croatia spiralling into recession. A special law was introduced to prevent the collapse with a restructuring deal with local and foreign creditors including a change of name and ownership structure making Sberbank the biggest single shareholder. Tere were many questions about who profited from the operation.
Agrokor, now known as Fortenova, employs around 55,000 in the Balkan region (40,000 in Croatia), has 29 production plants and more than 2,500 sales locations and distribution centres, and is involved in food production, retail chain management, and agriculture.
P34 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS CROATIA’S GAMBLING MARKET
Aside from its buoyant tourism market, Croatia became one of the first countries from the Eastern Bloc to legalise gambling back in the 1960s and following independence in 1991 the gaming industry began to boom with casinos and then betting shops opening up within the tourist areas and cities.
Under the ex-Yugoslavian rule there were no real gambling laws and there was a lot of confusion until the first legislation was established in 1998 called the Law on Games of Chance and Amusement Games. Later the gambling law of 2014 Zakon o Igrama Na Srecu was implemented and replaced the earlier law and this clarified the rules surrounding gambling both in online and offline capacity.
Te lottery is a monopoly and belongs to the state-owned Hrvatska Lutrija whilst licences for operating gambling activities such as casinos, betting offices, and slot clubs are obtained via the Ministry of Finance.
Under the gambling law, the sector is divided into four groups – lottery games (including bingo), games of chance (casino games), sports betting, and slot machines (including video
poker). Online gambling has been legal since 2010 but after 2014 the government opened up the market.
Around 2013 the market contracted in terms of mergers and acquisitions which saw a reduction in the number of companies in the market from more than 100 in 2008 to around 70 (2016). Tere were, however, significant revenue increases from HRK1bn in 2009 to more than HRK3bn by 2017 - the majority of this came from the betting sector and the five largest companies which at the time were Super Sport, Hrvatska Lutrija, Interigre, Hattrick-PSK, and International Evona.
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Lottery - Hrvatska Lutrija has the right to organise lotteries whilst profits are returned to the state budget. Monthly tax rate is 10 per cent on sales. Players must be over 18.
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Casinos - operators must have a share capital of at least €530,891 and a bank guarantee to the amount of €199,084 for each casino. If the casino operates online gaming a bank guarantee of €398,168 must be provided.
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Casinos must pay an annual gambling levy of €66,361 for each casino and a fee of €398,168 for operating online gambling.
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