TIRANA, April 19 /ATA/ – The Ministry of Finance and Economy on Wednesday launched a public consultation process with the interest groups, sports institutions and various organizations to discuss the new gambling regulation bill in Albania.
The Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj, who attended the meeting, said in her remarks that the goal of the consultation process is that a final consolidated legislation is endorsed to ensure social protection for the categories due to be affected by the draft. She said that negative effects of gambling and betting shops were the main reason why such activities and the gambling parlours were banned and shut down a few years ago.
“We answered to the interest of the participants to point out the main objectives of the legal changes we are undertaking, such as the return of betting only electronically and formalization of this market and make sure that the revenue generated through such activities is used to support development of sport, culture, technology,” Finance Minister Ibrahimaj said.
Finance Minister also said that the changes are also designed to regulate the market and ensure that legal rules are fully enforced.
All gambling, except a handful of licensed casinos, was prohibited as of January 1, 2019. Hundreds of betting shops and gambling sites were shut down, and efforts were made to block online sites. Electronic casinos, as the new legislation stipulates, were moved to five-star hotels only.
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