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added on 2010-07-29 06:06:19
The Cyprus government decided to end online gambling and drafted a new bill which can put an end to online gambling on the Eastern Mediterranean island. The new bill will now go forward to receive the European Commission's approval before the state's parliamentary debate.
The new law would ban online games like poker, roulette, slot machines, making all online casinos illegal. Cypriots are currently spending around €2.5 billion a year on online gambling.
“It is a very important bill, which tries to resolve a problem that has developed into a social scourge in recent years,” said finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis.
“These online casinos have been created on every corner of Cyprus and anyone, young or old, can basically gamble in the same way it is done in casinos abroad.”
The new law will affect all the locally-hosted and illegally-operating gambling websites, except the horse racing and sports betting websites which will only be permitted through regulated and licensed companies. Internet sports betting websites will be constrained to pay a tax of somewhere around 10% to the state.
“It would be an oxymoron to legally allow the operation of dozens of online casinos in Cyprus in the shape we have today and not allow the creation of a real casino. With this decision the government remains consistent with its initial position that it is against the creation of land casinos and online casinos for social and other reasons,” the finance minister said.
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