The Bulgarian parliament have adopted a new law to regulate online gambling in a bid to generate up to €50m in revenue.
On March 15, the Bulgarian parliament adopted a new law which regulates online gambling. The law proscribes special licensing regimes for Bulgarian and foreign online casino operators.
Under the law, Internet providers must block access to unlicensed gambling websites.
The new Gambling Bill could generate up to 100m leva (€50m) in annual revenues, according to government MP, Diyan Chervenkondev. The revenue has been earmarked for children and youth sports.
European Commission figures show that online gambling revenues reached between €6bn and €8bn between 2006 and 2008.
Bulgarian MPs are now debating the Gambling Bill, which was drafted with the aid of the Finance Ministry and State Agency of Gambling.
The new bill purports to regulate online gambling for the first time, and contains provisions for gambling in general. It is hoped that regulating Internet gambling and online betting will help eradicate the growing number of scam websites in Bulgaria.