Blaž Mrva, Managing Partner at Mrva Law LLC, Unveils Insights into the Overhaul of Slovenian Gambling Legislation
Blaž Mrva, Managing Partner at Mrva Law LLC, exclusively shares key insights on the upcoming overhaul of Slovenian gambling laws
Exclusively for Gambling.Re, Blaž Mrva, Managing Partner with expertise in gaming law at Mrva Law LLC, provides valuable insights into noteworthy advancements in Slovenian gambling legislation.
In October 2023, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovenian Government announced that it will prepare a new Strategy for the Development of Gambling in Slovenia. The current Gambling Development Strategy dates back to 2010. The Ministry announces that the new Gambling Strategy will define the allocation of concessions, the supervision of gambling in a way that will ensure consumer protection and optimise the public financial benefit of gaming.
Mr. Mrva stated that the reasons for amending the strategy (and later the Gaming Act) are probably twofold: to align the legislation with EU rules in this area and to adapt the regulation of gambling supervision and consumer protection to the development of online gambling.
Mr. Mrva notes that the Ministry's announcement does not indicate in which direction the changes will go. Given the restrictive nature of the current legal framework, it can be expected that foreign gambling operators will find it easier to operate in Slovenia. The current regulation requires, among other things, that the organiser has a company registered in Slovenia, also in case of online gaming.
According to Mr. Mrva, the public will also be involved in the process of adopting the new Gambling Strategy, i.e. in particular existing operators, beneficiaries of gambling (sports and disability organisations), consumer protection organisations, municipalities and others. Following the adoption of the Gambling Strategy, which is only the substantive basis for the legislative changes, the law will need to be amended. Therefore, it may take some time before new legislative framework will come into force.