The Finnish government is currently seriously considering ending the gaming monopoly of the state-owned company Veikkaus.
Well, this project has just received support from the Labor Institute for Economic Research and a large number of local political parties.
These include the Center Party and the National Coalition Party, among others. Therefore, this proposal can be expected to materialize in the future.
A monopoly that suffers from competition from platforms that operate illegally from abroad
The Finnish Minister of European Affairs and Reforms (Tytti Tuppurainen) is currently spearheading the plan to end Veikkaus ‘s monopoly on gambling. This initiative recently received considerable support.
Accordingly, an investigation into its feasibility will be launched before deciding on the new legislation.
The chairwoman of the Centre Party (Eeva Kalli), for example, considers it unsustainable that gambling profits are going abroad while the damage remains within the country. This is happening because many Finnish players bet on platforms operating from abroad.
They are therefore not required to follow current regulations regarding player protection, which increases the risks of addiction.
Thus, even though the state-owned Veikkaus company has a monopoly on gaming in Finland, it still faces competition from foreign operators who illegally target the country’s internet users. As a result, it continues to lose market share, which negatively impacts its revenues and, therefore, the state’s tax revenues.
A historical relic from the past that is no longer of interest today
In 2018, Sweden ended its gambling monopoly. As a result, Finland is one of the last countries on the European continent to still use this model. Legal advisor Antti Koivula therefore believes that it is now a thing of the past.
According to the leader of the National Coalition Party (Kai Mykkänen), the monopoly system is not an effective way to combat addiction. He therefore described it as a historical relic.
These different views are also shared by the director of the Labor Institute for Economic Research (Mika Maliranta). According to him, with the development of technology, particularly the Internet, a monopoly on games is no longer really relevant.
As a result, there are currently major problems with regulation in this sector.
Veikkaus ‘s gross gaming revenue estimated at around €1 billion in the first half of 2022
Founded in 1940, Veikkaus Oy was Finland’s national gaming agency, wholly owned by the country’s government. It held exclusive licenses for lotteries and sports betting. On January 1, 2017, it merged with RAY and Fintoto under the name Veikkaus. Since then, it has also operated online gaming and Finland’s only gaming establishment: Casino Helsinki.
For the first half of 2022, its gross gaming revenue is estimated at just over €1 billion. At the same time, bets placed by Finnish players on foreign platforms exceeded €500 million.
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