Political Gain From A Ridiuclous Suggestion - i.e. Ban Gambling In Bulgaria

This has nothing to do with morals, funds for the government or care for the Bulgarian people. This is entirely to do with Ivan Kostov trying to gain more popularity. I have made my views clear on this leech of a politician before about his desire for power and chameleon political stance to get this. Who would ever conceive that gambling could be banned in Bulgaria anyway, after all who runs the gambling business?

Ivan Kostov, leader of the right-wing Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) called for a ban on gambling in Bulgaria, Bulgarian news agency Focus said on October 20 2009.

"Currently taxation on gambling in Bulgaria fails to contribute significant funds to the Budget while the damage gambling causes is huge," said Kostov, a former prime minister and former finance minister.

"People who lobbied to keep gambling free of excise duties lied that this would bring higher revenue to the Budget and that the state would get money in return. I support the idea of a complete ban on gambling in Bulgaria, because it doesn't bring revenue, causes damage and probably the only people who benefit from it are the gambling bosses," Kostov said.

On October 15 2009, the Government approved a plan to introduce identical tax rates for all games of chance. Thus, the state lottery and private fixed-odds sports betting bookmaker Eurofootball will pay 12 per cent instead of 10 per cent of their betting turnover.

According to Eurofootball, the increase will mean 30 million leva losses for the sector in 2010.

"A large section of gambling operators in Bulgaria are facing bankruptcy, while at the same time Bulgaria could increase revenue collection from online gambling games to 160 million leva annually if it introduces a swift and efficient regulatory framework," Eurofootball said in a statement on October 18 2009.

Source: www.sofiaecho.com