The Greek Ministry of Finance proposed on Friday a reduction in the number of video lottery terminals (VLTs) local operator OPAP should be allowed to roll out in the country to 25,000 from the previously approved 35,000 such devices.
A bill on the matter was introduced to the Greek government on Friday, aiming to reduce exposure of customers to gambling and to make it easier for the relevant gambling authorities to monitor the industry.
OPAP currently provides sports betting and lottery services in more than 5,700 betting shops around its homeland and in the Republic of Cyprus. The operator has been trying to begin the planned roll-out of its VLTs for several years now, but hurdles of different nature have prevented it from moving forward with the plan. Under latest updates on the matter, the company is expected to roll out the gaming machines by May 2018.
In 2012, the Greek government extended OPAP’s monopoly over the operation of 13 games of chance to 2030 and granted the operator the exclusive right to manage 35,000 VLTs at its outlets until 2022. The plan was approved by the European Commission at a later date that year.
Here it is important to note that OPAP was a public gambling operator at the time. The prolongation of its existing exclusive right and the additional authorization of the company as Greece’s exclusive VLT operator allowed for its planned privatization to be completed. The gambling operator was fully privatized in 2013.
OPAP planned to launch 16,500 VLTs across its network of shops and to subcontract 18,000 more machines. The operator inked multiple partnership agreements with Scientific Games, Inspired Gaming, IGT, and Synot Group for the latter part of its plan. However, the roll-out of the machines has never taken place.
Other industry stakeholders have challenged the government’s decision on multiple occasions. Casino operators have contested the VLTs expansion, claiming that the proposal was violating the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU and that it was running afoul of Greek constitution. Multiple competition concerns have also been raised over the years, with involved parties arguing that the installation of VLTs in areas that can be easily accessed by customers on a daily basis would affect their own businesses badly.
The easy access to the gaming machines was also contested as one that violated a 2011 law that was introduced to protect gambling customers from being exposed to excessive gambling.
Regulatory challenges have also prevented OPAP from launching its VLTs earlier. The company was ready to commence rolling out the machines back in 2015, but halted that plan after the Greek government introduced tougher gambling regulations. The country later on agreed to a certain amount of regulatory compromise. Reportedly, OPAP has invested more than €500 million to implement its VLT plan, including sub-contraction costs.
