Operating with only a fragile majority, Greece's Syriza government is nevertheless pushing forward in 2019 with long-awaited plans to restructure and overhaul the country’s land-based and online gambling legislation.
As it seeks to end an uneasy period of temporary online licensing that has existed since 2011, the government is proposing to secure significant revenues from the sale of new licences and from taxation, although the limited scope of the new licences is proving controversial.
The much-delayed sale of the Hellenikon Integrated Resort project in central Athens should see a request for proposal (RFP) process begin this year as the government solicits interests from international investors.
With the rollout of the country’s new VLT sector now largely completed, in the land-based market a restructuring and relicensing of the country’s ailing casino sector is continuing following unexpected and welcome tax cuts last year.
See below for GamblingCompliance's coverage of the Greek market.
Insight & Analysis
A fresh decision on whether Greece’s stalled Hellenikon casino tender can move forward is due this month, but aggrieved bidder Hard Rock is preparing fresh legal salvos likely to delay the process still further if it is not reinstated.
Greece's land-based casinos saw their revenues pummelled in the last quarter of 2019 as the impact of a total smoking ban swept across the...
Aggrieved casino bidder Hard Rock international will use every legal weapon available to it to overturn a decision to exclude the operator...
Regulatory Research
Data
Greece’s online gambling market boomed in 2018, swelling by more than a third, as it was buoyed by a profitable football World Cup and easier payments.