Changes in Horse Race Betting Licensing in Greece
Changes are afoot in Greece, and these changes are also reforming the casino landscape in the country. The privatisation agency in Greek (HRADF) invited OPAP that operates many betting operations in the country to acquire the licensing for horse race betting.
The first of its kind licensing deal
OPAP won the right to horse race betting after it offered to pay €40 million for the license. The agreement was signed on 24th April 2015. This is big news as until now horse race betting was strictly operated by state agencies. This has been done in the wake of privatisation deals in the country since the latest general elections. It seems privatisation of state assets was one of the criterion set by the EU and IMF that would determine if the country should receive any more bailouts. It is the hope that privatisation of state assets will help the country that has been under extreme debt.
As such, OPAP gained the right to offer bets on horse races and the Greek government gained massive cash from the company. The amount – €40 million – is huge by any means. But this certainly means lot for a country that has been cash-strapped for so long.
Not so happy sale
The government gained cash from the deal. But the new radical government, elected just a few months ago, has not been in favour of privatization. The country’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, is carrying out privatization under pressure of the international agencies that have lent lots of money to Greece. He wanted to halt such asset sales in the country. But it seems nations under debt do not have much choice when face-to-face with creditors. Now it would be interesting to see how OPAP expands horse race betting operations in the country and how gambling industry in Greece flourishes under the new regime.