JAKTA – association of gaming organizers, authorized technicians and producers of gaming equipment, together with Belgrade Chamber Commerce and with support of Serbian Gaming Board have organized Conference with topic:

‘’ RESPONSIBLE GAMING IN SERBIA’’

Conference took place at Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, on 28 of April 2010 at 14:00 pm.

Speakers were:

Mrs. Mirjana Acimovic – president of JAKTA Association
Mr. Mile Simojlović –  Head of the Department for issuing permits and approvals and infringement proceedings of Serbian Gaming Board
Mr. Helmut Kafka – vice-president of EUROMAT (European Gaming and Amusment  Federation ), president of Austrian Association
Ms. Agne Bražiunaite – representativ of BTAMOGI ( Bulgarian Gaming Association )
Mr. Dr Ivica Mladenović - Psychiatrist- family psychotherapist , president of  club   ‘’Chance’’
      Mr. Srečko Kunčič – inspector-senior advisor Office for Gaming Supervision - Republic Slovenia
      Representatives of gaming organizers

Participants:
 Representatives of Montenegro Gaming Board, Gaming Board of Republika Srpska,  Serbian Association of Employers, Serbian Chamber of Commerce , experts dealing with addiction and prevention of pathological gambling, delegates from Croatia, Macedonia, representative of Mayer’s  office, Ministry of youth and  sport, Ministry of interior.

Necessity of Conference and importance of responsible gaming derived from:

• expansion of  Serbian gaming market  particular in organizing games of chance on slot machines and betting places
• increasing of  gamblers
• necessity for protecting health of people, which is one of the most important goals of every State

Pathological gambling or gambling addiction is disorder when person can’t resist gambling impulses, and it is expending in all Europe. Even do in Serbia we don’t have exact data of its proportion; it is evident that the number of gambling addicts is growing.

We announced for 14th of September 2010. Conference: ‘’ Comparative gaming legislation in former Yugoslavian countries and its improvement trough examples of EU and countries in region’’

«Half a billions of euros in gray zone»


  Meeting that was initiated by JAKTA – Association of gaming organizers as collective member of Serbian Association of Employers,  between employers in Gaming sector , foreign investitures and representatives of  different States Agencies( Gaming Board, Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, Labor Inspectorate of Ministry of Labor and social politics, Agency for the Fight against Corruption, Tax Administration, Directorate of Measures and Precious Metals etc) was held today in  Serbian Association of Employers headquarters.
 Topics of meeting were large gray economy in the Gaming field and regulation of this sector modeling on EU member states.

President of  JAKTA Association put out this information from earlier investigations : 

• 60 000 illegal slot machines
• 1500 illegal betting places
• 30 million euros of loss per year in Republic budget  for fees  for illegal machines 
• loss per year for fees for illegal betting places 20 million euros
• 20 000 of illegally imported machines without paying VAT – 10 million euros per year  
• over 50 illegal slot clubs where Texas Hold on tournaments are hold   
• loss on taxes and fees - 3,5 million euros per year  (assessment)
• 32 web sites wear citizens can play online gambling, betting, video games etc.
• loss on taxes and fees 6 million euros per year ( assessment )
•  over 10000 people working illegally on black gaming market

Total volume of revenue of black market is almost half a billion euros, from that State loses 79, 5 million euros from unpaid taxes and fees.
Director of Gaming Administration, Zoran Jadzic said that Administration of Ministry of finance is unable to make mass controls across the whole Serbia because they have only 6 inspectors and 1 car. Jadzic also presented data that penalty for holding illegal machines are only 2000 din  ( 20 euro )  and that they will increase with next update of Law of Games of Chance.       

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President of Serbian Association of Employers Mr. Nebojsa Atanackovic and president of Jakta Association have signed contract of accession.

Mr Atanackovic emphasized that Gaming field is very important for Serbia and it should be edit as qualitatively as possible, because anything that is forbidden will enlarge black market.

“Even do there is strong feeling that games of chance are making big profit and are involving a lot of money there is huge black market in this field, Inequality of employers and many problems. That is why it is necessary to edit gaming field sistematicly. We will thry to do that with associating our forces and to present best solutions to Gaming Board and help State to lose less becouse of expressed black market and to provide to gaming organizers equal conditions on market .'' said Atanackovic.

Mrs Acimovic underlined that Jakta Asociation is accessig Serbian Association of Employers so we could with united forses eficientely advocate for estamblishing order in Serbian gaming market, restricting large black market, making equal position for legal private gaming operaters, improving Low of games of chance and harmonizing it with EU Lows and supporting responsible gaming .

Letter from Ministry of Finance – Gaming Board

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"This showcase clearly demonstrates that the consumer has been, is and will continue to be at the very centre of our business. Responsible Gambling for us is the commitment to promoting responsible behaviour amongst our customers, industry and employees" says Annette Kok, President of EUROMAT. Wednesday, 4 November 2009 - The European Gaming and Amusement Federation (EUROMAT) launched today its publication entitled "Responsible Gambling: a Statement of Principles and a Showcase of Best Practice from the European Gaming and Amusement Industry" in the European Parliament in an event co-hosted by two very known figures in the European debate about gambling policy, MEP Christel Schaldemose of Denmark and MEP Toine Manders of the Netherlands, respectively Rapporteur and Shadow Rapporteur of the first European Parliament's own-initiative report on gambling. The publication was presented to EU policymakers of most EU institutions and representatives of many Member State governments. The publication identifies the key principles of corporate social responsibility in gambling and highlights best practice in different Member States aimed at promoting responsible gambling behavior in Europe. EUROMAT recognizes the importance of working to promote responsible gambling at the level closer to the people, wholeheartedly defends the principle of subsidiarity when it comes to gambling regulation, but also encourages a healthy European debate on responsible gambling and calls on the EU to give consumer protection in gambling more attention by for instance establishing a Responsible Gambling Forum. MEP Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark) said "I believe that in the wider debate of expanding consumer protection in Europe and the empowerment of European consumers, a healthy debate on consumer protection in gambling is what Europe needs. As an elected member of the European Parliament sitting in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee I welcome initiatives such as EUROMAT's and will continue to work to ensure that all consumers of any services, including gambling and entertainment services, receive the best quality at the highest level of consumer protection". "This publication shows that the private gaming industry has been able for decades to integrate responsible gambling initiatives into its business model. Today we prove that when properly regulated the gambling industry does work in synergy with governments to ensure that consumers are provided with a great gaming experience with the appropriate controls": said Toine Manders (ALDE, The Netherlands). In her concluding remarks, EUROMAT President said: "EUROMAT continues to be one of the chief advocates of responsible gambling and it is our hope that this publication will promote greater focus at EU and EU Member State level to facilitate a real commitment to responsible gambling by all stakeholders."

President of Jakta Association ,Mrs. Mirjana Acimovic , have participated on this year Eastern European Gaming Summit held on 05.-07. October 2009. in Sofia , Bulgaria. She dabate together with representativs of Bulgarian association (BTAMOGI) Mr. Iribizov, Croatian association (HUAK) Mr.Vonjovic and Romanian association (AOPRJN) Mr. Buriu.Main theme of this panel was developments in gaming regulation in Balkan countries.

The Council Working Party on gambling and betting held its second meeting last week under the guidance of the Swedish Presidency. Representatives of the 27 Member States debated how they deal with gambling problems in their jurisdictions. The focus was on what kind of penalties were applied by Member States authorities on illegal/unauthorised gambling and betting providers and on the regulation of advertising of such unauthorised services. Working Party members were asked for their opinion on whether they believed it best to block unauthorised websites and/or block bank transactions. Another meeting is scheduled for November after which the Presidency will submit a report on all findings to the Competitiveness Council to be held in Brussels in December 2009. The next presidencies in line, Spain and Belgium, have indicated their intention to continue the discussions during their terms in office in 2010.

In Bulgaria, the leader of the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) political party has called for a total ban on gambling, claiming the revenues gained do not sufficiently contribute to the budget while ‘the damage caused is huge’. Right-wing politician Ivan Kostov, the former prime minister and finance minister, stated that those who had lobbied to keep gambling free from excise duties had lied in their claims that the state treasury would receive more in revenues as a result. Bulgaria’s gambling legislation has been extensively debated over the past few years, with particular time spent discussing internet regulation. Following the crackdown on gambling in the Ukraine and Russia, it was expected that citizens of these nations might visit casinos in Bulgaria, which would obviously not be the case if the government in Sofia adopted similar legislation.

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Datum: 16.09.2009                              Medium: Politika                     Seite: 21
Themen: Glücksspiele
Autoren: M.Simic
Titel: Glücksspielveranstalter unterstützen das Schließen von "Schulspielhäusern"

Glücksspielveranstalter unterstützen das Schließen von "Schulspielhäusern"

Die Vereinigung "Jakta", die 70% der Glücksspielveranstalter versammelt, ist einverstanden mit den Absichten der Stadt

Das Schließen von Wettbüros in der unmittelbaren Umgebung von Grund- und Mittelschulen ist ein großer Schritt zur Verhinderung von Schülern, anstelle von "sehr gut" im Klassenbuch die Nummer eins, zwei oder drei im Ticket zu jagen. Außer von Lehrern und Eltern der Schüler wurde die Ansage Belgrads, daß rechtswidrig geöffnete Lokale ihre Arbeit beenden werden, auch bereitwillig von der Vereinigung "Jakta" willkommen geheißen. Sie versammelt 70 % der hiesigen Glücksspielveranstalter, Kundendienste und Hersteller von Ausstattungen für Glücksspiele, die viel kosten und zur Sucht führen können. Die Mitgliedschaft in dieser Vereinigungen haben sich ausschließlich Arbeitgeber verdient, die eine Genehmigung besitzen und die gültigen gesetzlichen Vorschriften beachten.
- Wir unterstützen die Aktion und sind der Ansicht, daß eines der bedeutendsten Probleme die große Anzahl von illegalen Glücksspielveranstaltern, nicht angemeldeten Apparaten und Wettbüros ist. Gerade an diesen Orten ist die Gefahr, daß Minderjährige um Geld spielen, am größten. Die Zuständigen haben zur Zeit keinen Mechanismus, womit sie die Arbeit dieser Lokale erkennen und verhindern und damit die Mitbürger, Kinder und die Glücksspielindustrie selbst schützen könnten. Und sie ist strategisch sehr wichtig, nicht nur für Serbien, sondern auch für alle Länder der Welt - sagte für "Politika" Mirjana Acimovic, die Präsidentin der Vereinigung.
- "Jakta" wurde beim Arbeitsministerium eingetragen und ist seit Jahresanfang Mitglied der Europäischen Föderation von Glücksspielen. Sie bereitet sich auch vor, sich aktiv an den Änderungen des Glücksspielgesetzes zu beteiligen.
Unter dem Titel "Voraussetzungen, die der Standort erfüllen muß" steht, daß "die Entfernung von Apparaten und Wettbüros bzw. Einzahlungsstellen mindestens 150 Meter von Grund- und Mittelschulen betragen muß". Durch Bürgerschutzinitiative zur Gesetzesänderung wird vorgeschlagen, daß klar definiert werden soll, daß sich diese Bestimmung auf alle Spielhäuser beziehen soll, daß diese mindestens zwei Kilometer entfernt sein sollen von Bildungsstätten, und zwar gemessen in Luftlinie, was zur Zeit nicht näher präzisiert ist. Man verlangt, daß Spielhäuser in Hotels, die von der Vorschrift über den Standort erspart sind, keine Beschriftungen oder Reklamen aufstellen dürfen, die als Einladung oder Anregung für Minderjährige, ums Geld zu spielen, gedeutet werden könnten.