ASOM also reacts: Distancing betting shops from schools is impossible, it will mean closing
The Association of Sports Betting of Macedonia (ASOM) strongly reacts to the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to adopt the proposed amendments to the Law on organizing games of chance which will ensure a 500-meter distance of betting shops from educational institutions, as well as raising the criteria and conditions for obtaining a license and a significant increase in fees for organizers of games of chance and entertainment games, which has been in parliamentary procedure since June last year.
- We reject the proposal to move business facilities away from schools as completely unacceptable, and the request for an increase in fees is completely contradictory to the amendment proposal to introduce distance between business facilities, because it means closing almost 98 percent of the facilities. We have pointed out on many occasions so far that such a proposal is practically impossible to implement in the field, because distancing from one educational institution simply brings the object closer to another. Thus, the distance of 500 meters means the complete closure of all facilities in which games of chance are organized and the extinguishing of an entire legal business branch.
In this context, we remind you once again that the entry of minors into betting shops is fully regulated by law, the penalties for disobeying these articles are high and we take the strictest care that there are no violations. Neither ASOM nor our members have any interest in having people under the age of 18 enter our facilities, and we do everything for maximum and uncompromising compliance with the law.
Once again, we remind you that the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Law on organizing games of chance will certainly mean the loss of the jobs of more than 8.000 directly employed in the activity, as well as the jobs of more than 50.000 other workers who depend on the operation of this economic branch. , but also the loss of about 253 million euros of budget funds, which by all accounts flow into the state and local budgets from the operation of this economic activity.
At the same time, we remind you that the Republic of North Macedonia is the only country in the region that does not have online games of chance, with which the industry suffers additional damages, and the state has no intention of enabling online games of chance through the websites of Macedonian licensed betting shops.
In the end, we want to emphasize that our economic activity is additionally damaged by the Government, because it is excluded from the government's measures for the energy crisis.
"As a business that offers services, we are not able to cover the additional costs by increasing the price of the service. And with the current price of electricity on the world exchanges from where the business entities in this activity procure it, the operation has been brought to the threshold of profitability. The additional announcements for the further increase of electricity on the world stock exchanges will lead to the impossibility of settling the obligations and the sure shutdown of the entire economic activity" - say ASOM.
According to what was stated, we emphasize that the proposed amendments to the law are completely unacceptable and we are ready to use all mechanisms to prevent it from being passed.
