The state will establish a monopoly on all types of gambling, with the exception of casinos, in respect of which the conditions will become much tougher.
By law, the activity of gambling, which is a state monopoly, will be managed by the National Lottery of Moldova.
It is also planned to change the system of taxation of all income from gambling and a ban on advertising this industry. There is also an age limit (from 21 years) for participants in gambling.
According to the law, in order to obtain the right to conduct games not dependent on the state, companies must fulfill a number of conditions: the authorized capital must be at least five million lei (70% of them in cash) at the time of issuing a license, managers and accountants should not have a criminal record, and their work experience must be at least five years.
The document provides for the placement of games. They should not appear in central and local public administration institutions, schools, institutes, medical, religious, religious and cultural institutions, residential buildings, at public transport stops, train stations, underground passages, in market territories, in temporary kiosks, as well as in radius of 200 meters from educational and medical institutions of all levels.
In other words, casinos can be located only in separate capital buildings with separate entrances for visitors and staff, as well as in hotels with a level not lower than four stars.
The new law provides that in the game room can be installed: for municipalities – at least 20 slot machines with cash benefits; for settlements outside the municipality – at least 10 such machines.
In addition, casinos should have a specially equipped gaming room in which they should be installed: for municipalities – at least six gaming tables, one of which is a roulette; for settlements outside the municipality – four game tables and one roulette.
The casino should have an operating cash desk and currency exchange.
Activities in the halls of slot machines, cash desks, currency exchange offices must be monitored in a mandatory manner by a closed-circuit video surveillance system with a record turned on throughout the entire period of work in real time. Video tables and cashier casinos should be stored in digital form, stored for at least 10 calendar days and be provided at the request of law enforcement and control authorities.
At the end of October, the Licensing Chamber suspended licenses of 65 economic agents in the field of gambling, betting, casinos and slot machines. This was caused by numerous violations identified by the Financial Inspection Inspectorate and investigations conducted by anti-corruption officers and prosecutors.
Accidentally or not, most of the business associated with gambling was suspended after Plakhotnik proposed a radical regulation of casino activity and the protection of minors from this phenomenon.
Such a statement was published at the end of July this year in the official blog of Plakhotnyuk, and immediately became widely discussed on TV channels owned by the first vice-president of PDM – Prime, Publika TV, Canal 2, Canal 3. A week after the announcement was published, searches metropolitan casinos, which led to the closure of institutions and the arrest of several economic agents who evaded taxes. Two weeks later, seven gambling halls were temporarily closed after searches conducted by police and prosecutors, and their administration was suspected of tax evasion.
According to the journalistic investigation of the Crime Moldova publication, the operation carried out at the end of October deprived 59 entrepreneurs of four casinos and 155 gambling halls of economic activity. Among the investors were representatives of Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine. Someone owned one game room, the others – whole empires, managed by nominees using money laundering schemes through offshore companies.
According to the register of the Licensing Chamber, 65 entrepreneurs owned 72 licenses for operating gaming machines, four licenses for casinos, 13th for sports betting and one license for holding lotteries in Moldova.
Only in the first half of this year, licensing of activities in the field of gambling brought nearly 52 million lei to the state treasury, which is five million more than last year. The increase was due to an increase in the number of license holders in this area.
Interestingly, the validity period of all licenses issued for this type of activity is less than one year, and for some owners it expires within three months.