EU financed project assists the amendment of gambling legislation in Moldova

14 June, 2010, Chisinau, Moldova

A new online gambling law is being prepared by the Ministry of Economy with the assistance of the EU financed project “Support for the implementation of bilateral agreements between Moldova and European Union”.

The project’s support, provided in collaboration with Dr. Michael Hettich and Dr Wulf Hambach -of Hambach & Hambach law firm (Germany), was requested by the Moldovan Ministry of Economy in order to finalise the newly prepared Gambling Law. The new drafted Law will replace most existing gambling legislation, intending to put in place an improved, more comprehensive structure of gambling regulation.

To address these issues and at the request of the Ministry of Economy, the EU financed project provided comprehensive advice on legal framework in the area of gambling and betting, prepared a section of legislation to address internet and other remote gambling, prepared recommendations on amendments to the Draft Gambling Law with explanation of rules governing the proposed regulations, including regulation of remote gambling via the Internet and other means of communication, provided training on legislation and legal regimes governing gambling and game of chance in the EU.

Online gambling in Moldova
As recently reported by the License Chamber online gambling is currently not at all regulated in Republic of Moldova. Therefore, the online gambling cannot be prohibited and the licenses to be issued by the License Chamber cannot be based on any specific online preconditions. In spite of approving the first application for an online lottery at the end of April 2010, this offer is not yet online, even if the License Chamber acknowledges it. Hence, there is still no operator on the online gambling market of Moldova who is licensed by the local administration. Conversely, a large number of players located in Moldova are already participating in online games offered by international operators. The majoroperators in Moldova are e.g. PokerStars and PartyGaming and the most common games are online poker and online sports-betting. Other internet games such as online lotteries, bingo, betting on horse races or dog races, online slot machines or online casino games such as roulette are not popular in Moldova.

Online Gambling in EU
The development of online gambling, in the recent years, raises new challenges addressed at EU level. Online gambling and betting is permanently available, crosses borders, is widespread and easy to access. Although the Member States have opted for widely differing responses to this development, there are common issues surrounding the regulation of cross-border operators and the services they offer in terms of the objectives of public order, social order and consumer protection, including the adoption of tools to control and tax online gambling and to combat unauthorised gambling operators.

More information on the assessment and the recommendations, made within the EU assistance project, regarding gambling policy and instruments, is available upon request.

Contact: “Support for the implementation of Agreements between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union”;

T: +373 22 293 503,
E: office@support-md-eu.md,
W: http://www.support-md-eu.md