aojnd:-the-romanian-government-is-only-taxing-winnings-of-online-gaming-platforms,-gaming-operators-are-to-contest

AOJND: The Romanian government is only taxing winnings of online gaming platforms, gaming operators are to contest

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The last variant of the project aiming to raise gambling taxes proposed by the Romanian Government would only affect players of online gaming platforms, while customers of traditional gambling operators are exempted from taxes for all withdrawals under 66.750 RON.

According to the most recent version discussed by authorities, winnings until 10.000 RON are taxed with 3%, those until 66.750 RON are taxed with 20%, and the ones exceeding this sum are taxed with 40%. At the same time, participants of traditional gambling providers, such as casinos, poker clubs and slot machines are exempted from taxation until 66.750 RON.

“We are, in fact, talking about the exclusive taxation of winnings of distance games, all other players are excluded from taxation until a significantly high value. Thus, we are taxing the cleanest operators, those which apply the most advanced systems that ensure responsible gaming, protection of minors and the 100% clean registration of winnings. It is an uncompetitive measure that modifies the market in terms of the type of operator, traditional or online, of the same games, and gambling providers will contest it,” declared Odeta Nestor, president of AOJND (Asociația Organizatorilor de Jocuri de Noroc la Distanță – Association of Distance Gambling Operators [free translation]), the organization uniting the main gambling operators licenced in Romania.

AOJND is asking for a tax exemption to be applied to players of online gambling platforms up to an amount of 600 RON for an equitable measure.

According to data collected by AOJND, the increase of taxes affecting players will lead to the decrease of the number of people visiting online operators, which will instead move towards unlicensed sites in Romania. Therefore, state profits will decrease instead of increasing. Additionally, Romania remains the only country in the EU that taxes withdrawals instead of winnings, and so the impact of a substantial tax increase is significantly higher.

AOJND restates that the application of this tax from August 1, 2022, is impossible for online gambling operators from a technical point of view, since they need to modify their digital systems, which are audited by independent organs, according to legislation.

onair-entertainment-to-open-state-of-the-art-romania-studio

OnAir Entertainment to open state-of-the-art Romania studio

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Studio will feature 30 roulette and blackjack tables designed especially for operators licensed in the thriving Romanian and Italian markets

OnAir Entertainment, the provider of thrilling live casino content, has been given the green light to begin construction on a brand-new studio located in the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

The studio will contain 30 tables for both blackjack and roulette, with each set against stunning backdrops that have been designed to capture the unique atmosphere of a buzzing land-based casino floor. It also boasts cutting edge cameras, microphones and streaming technology.

The studio will be run by 350 staff including studio managers, technicians and dealers trained to the standards expected in prestigious land-based casinos. Dealers will be fluent in Romanian or Italian, with games broadcast from the studio intended for operators licensed in these fast-growing markets.

OnAir expects to cut the ribbon on its Romania studio in Q4 with operators already showing significant interest in adding titles to their lobbies as soon as they are available. The opening of the Romania studio will be followed by two more in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 respectively.

After launching its first blackjack table in November 2021, OnAir Entertainment has worked tirelessly to enhance its offering with the addition of roulette and speed roulette with auto roulette and 9 Pots of GoldTM StreamIconTM Edition coming soon.

The OnAir network is also certified in key regulated markets including the Isle of Man, the UK, Greece, Ontario, Latvia, Sweden and Malta. This is set to increase to nine markets in the coming weeks with launches in Denmark and the Netherlands.

Mathijs Beugelink, Head of Operations at On Air Entertainment, said: “OnAir has quickly emerged as a leading live casino provider and network, and opening a studio in Romania forms part of wider plans to continue to grow at pace.

“This really will be a state-of-the-art studio that will allow us to create and broadcast the most entertaining and engaging live dealer content right from the heart of Bucharest.

“We are also thrilled to be bringing jobs and employment to the country as we look to build out a team of 350 people to run the studio and deliver the unrivalled player experience that we have built our reputation on.”

Dejan Loncar, Head of Business Development at On Air Entertainment, added: “The Romanian and Italian markets are incredibly exciting for operators as both offer significant untapped potential.

“There is certainly an appetite among players to access live casino games and that is the driving force behind opening this studio in Romania with game hosts that are native to the country and to Italy in order to provide truly localised content for both markets.”

1x2-network-secures-romania-licence

1X2 Network secures Romania licence

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Leading content developer and aggregator continues to deploy regulated market expansion plan with latest certification with additional operators ready and waiting to integrate its games

1X2 Network, the award-winning online casino content provider and aggregator, has been granted its own licence from Romania’s National Gambling Office with a number of operators already lined up to add its games to their lobbies.

The licence means that all casino and sportsbook brands active in the market will be able to offer their players content from the developer’s 1X2gaming and Iron Dog Studio subsidiaries. This includes Megaways™ Jack, 1 Million Megaways™ BC, Blazing 777 and Classic Fruits.

Operators will also be able to leverage 1X2 Network’s pioneering Branded Megaways™ concept, allowing them to quickly and cost-effectively launch Megaways™ slots that incorporate their own branding and logos to deliver a unique and thrilling player experience.

Securing a licence in Romania forms part of 1X2 Network’s wider strategy to provide its content in core regulated markets in Europe and beyond. The provider already holds certifications in UK, Malta, Gibraltar, IOM, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Italy and Greece.

Christopher Reid, Corporate Manager at 1X2 Network, said: “Securing certifications in key international markets is the driving force behind our growth strategy and that is why we wanted to obtain our own licence in Romania.

“This is a market where we have already gained traction with some of the biggest brands and now that we have been awarded our own permit will be able to grow our client base in the country.

“Our games have proved to be hugely popular with players in Romania thanks to their bold design, authentic sound and thrilling gameplay and we look forward to seeing them land in the lobbies of more casinos and sportsbooks over the coming months.”

the-winners-of-the-better-collective-bookmaker-awards-2022-in-greece-and-romania-announced

The winners of the Better Collective Bookmaker Awards 2022 in Greece and Romania announced

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At the Better Collective Bookmaker Awards 2022 show in Athens, the best iGaming operators in Greece and Romania were honoured.

The purpose of the awards is to honour the best operators using data collected by Better Collective throughout 2021. BLE Pavillion in Athens was the venue for Better Collective Bookmaker Awards 2022-show. Together with its local flagship brands, Betarades and Pariurix, Better Collective honoured the winners in different categories including Player’s Choice and Best Overall Bookmaker in Greece and Romania. 

Shona ODonnell, Head of Strategic Events at Better Collective, said: 
“The Better Collective Bookmaker Awards have been created to support and develop our values of trust, transparency and putting players at the heart of what we do. The awards are driven by a desire to provide unbiased information for players. This also means that the Better Collective Bookmaker Awards are rather unique as they are reflecting what players tell us is important in the market. Congratulations to all the winners. They deserve this honour.”

Donations for emergency relief
Better Collective made donations for emergency relief in Ukraine on behalf of all guests attending the event in Greece and were able to donate 4,200 EUR to the Red Cross.


Bookmaker Award for Greece and Romania

Categories:

Best Basketball Odds:
Shortlist Greece: bet365, Novibet, NetBet, Stoiximan, Sportingbet
Winner Greece: Stoiximan

Best Tennis Odds: 
Shortlist Romania: Efbet, Maxbet, Superbet, Winmasters, Fortuna
Winner Romania: Efbet

Best Football Odds:
Shortlist Greece: Winmasters, Stoiximan, bet365, Novibet, Betshop
Winner Greece: Betshop

Short list Romania: Winmasters, Efbet, Stanleybet, Get’s bet and Casapariurilor
Winner Romania: Efbet

Best Markets Selection:
Shortlist Greece: Pamestoixima, Interwetten, Novibet, Betshop, Stoiximan
Winner Greece: Betshop

Short list Romania: Mozzart, 888, Maxbet, Betano, Admiral Bet
Winner Romania: Betano


Best Customer Service:
Shortlist Greece: Betshop, Novibet, Stoiximan, Vistabet, Bwin
Winner Greece: Novibet

Short list Romania: Casapariurilor, Unibet, Betano, Baumbet.ro, Winmasters
Winner Romania: Betano


Best Banking Options:
Shortlist Greece: bet365, Netbet, Betshop, Stoiximan, Novibet
Winner Greece: bet365

Short list Romania: Unibet, Betfair, NetBet, Stanleybet, Superbet
Winner Romania: Superbet


Best User Experience:
Shortlist Greece: bet365, Novibet, Stoiximan, Bwin, Vistabet
Winner Greece: Stoiximan

Short list Romania: Netbet, Casapariurilor, Betano, Superbet, Unibet
Winner Romania: Unibet


Best Welcome Offers:
Shortlist Greece: Betshop, Stoiximan, bet365, Netbet, Novibet
Winner Greece: bet365

Short list Romania: Fortuna, NetBet, Winbet, Publicwin, Winmaster
Winner Romania: NetBet

Best Customer Loyalty Offers:
Shortlist Greece: Pamestoixima, Netbet, Novibet, bet365, Stoiximan
Winner Greece: bet365

Short list Romania: Pokerstars, Netbet, Unibet, Betano, Maxbet
Winner Romania: Betano


Players’ Choice, voted for by the users in the individual markets:

Winner Greece: Stoiximan
Winner Romania: Superbet


Best Overall Bookmaker Award, based on data collected throughout 2021

Winner Greece: Stoiximan
Winner Romania: Betano


Congratulations to all winners!

iasi,-romania-set-to-host-the-iesf-2023-world-esports-championships

Iași, Romania Set to Host the IESF 2023 World Esports Championships

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The International Esports Federation (IESF) held a press conference today with the future host city of the 15th World Esports Championships Finals, Iași, Romania. This will be the second time the WE Championships will be staged in Romania after the country’s capital Bucharest hosted IESF’s flagship event in 2013.

Iași is the second-largest city in Romania and is home to multiple well-known universities. As the most youthful city in Romania, Iași will provide a fresh take on the WE Championships, offer new and exciting participation opportunities and bring together the World Esports Family once again for esports’ biggest event.

IESF President Vlad Marinescu said: “We are so excited to bring the World Esports Championships back to Romania. The WE Championships have a rich history of generating international exposure for esports and uniting the World Esports Family, and the 2023 edition is expected to be the largest edition ever with at least 130 countries participating. We are thrilled that we can continue to provide our athletes with the ultimate environment to perform at their full potential on the world stage.

Deputy Mayor of Iași Daniel Juravle joined the press conference and said: “Iasi is the youngest city in Romania and the largest after the country’s capital. We are ready to host the World Esports Championships, an event that will bring great energy to our city and turn it into the capital of esports. We are waiting for gamers from all over the world with open arms. Together we can create the future of this industry. We will make sure that you have fun and that you will make history in this great city.”

IESF Secretary General Boban Totovski said: “We are very grateful for the support and collaboration of Deputy Mayor Jurvale and the local organizers. I have no doubt that Iași will be an amazing host for the 15th WE Championships Finals. The thriving university city of Iași perfectly embodies IESF’s values of respect and friendship, so we look forward to what’s in store in 2023.”

Bali, Indonesia is currently preparing to host the 2022 WE Championships, set to take place from 27 November to 9 December and is expected to be the largest and most geographically diverse installment of the event, featuring a record $500,000 total prize pool and a new Women’s Featured Division.

leap-gaming-operates-on-romanian-market

Leap Gaming operates on Romanian market

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Leap Gaming, Malta-based virtual sports, slots, and table games provider,  received a Class II license from Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN) http://onjn.gov.ro/lista-licentiati-clasa-a-ii-a/ for gaming software provision.

The license allows Leap to provide virtual sports and casino solutions to B2C and B2B operators in Romania.

This license follows several key licensing milestones achieved in recent months, including, among others, in Sweden, Greece, and Italy.

Another step in Leap’s expansion path into regulated markets, for scalable distribution of its state-of-the-art virtual sports, slots and table games.

esa-gaming-boosts-global-footprint-with-romania-licence

ESA Gaming boosts global footprint with Romania licence

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Innovative games provider ESA Gaming has further enhanced its global reach after receiving a licence to offer its products in Romania.

ESA Gaming’s library of EasySwipe™ titles are now available to Romania’s licensed online operators, offering great cross-sell opportunities to sportsbooks by allowing users to enjoy the best quality casino games without disrupting the sports betting experience.

The portfolio now consists of six titles including best-performing Goal Mine and FruitStaxx, as well as recent releases Joker Poker and Egyptian Reels, with an exciting roadmap planned for 2022.

The Romanian online gambling market has seen significant growth over the last few years and 29 operators now hold a licence to offer its services in the country.

The new licence is an important milestone for ESA Gaming as it continues to expand its global reach in regulated markets around the globe. The supplier now holds certifications in Portugal, Italy, and Colombia as well as an MGA and Greek supplier licence with further expansion expected in 2022.

Zorica Smallwood, Director at ESA Gaming, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded yet another local licence which will see us introduce our content in the Romanian market.

“Our EasySwipe™ games have been performing strongly in all markets where we are active, providing operators with an important cross-selling option in an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace. We look forward to partnering with Romanian operators and to offering our exciting products to a new audience.”

red-tiger-signs-exclusive-deal-with-superbet-romania

Red Tiger signs exclusive deal with Superbet Romania

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Leading Romanian operator Superbet is to go live with the full catalogue of slots and jackpot solutions from casino game and software developer Red Tiger.

As a result of the agreement, Superbet’s online players will soon be able to enjoy such player favourites as Dynamite Riches Megaways, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, Primate King and Mystery Reels. Superbet will also have access to Red Tiger’s hourly jackpots, which are popular with operators as commercially successful player acquisition and retention tools. As part of the deal, Superbet will have exclusive market access to Red Tiger products in Romania for an initial two-month period.

Superbet is the largest omni-channel sports betting and gaming operator in Romania. It has offices in the UK, Poland, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Cyprus and Malta and a team of more than 4,000 people. In 2019 the company received a €175m strategic investment from Blackstone Group to help grow its market-leading position in Romania and pursue expansion opportunities in Central Eastern Europe and globally.

James Jones, Head of Business Development at Evolution, said: “We are delighted to have entered into this new partnership with Superbet. We very much look forward to serving Superbet and entertaining their customers with highly entertaining slots content and providing our industry leading jackpot mechanics too.”

Joe Legge, Director of Gaming at Superbet, said: “Superbet continues to invest in world-class online and multi-channel operations that deliver excitement and choice to our players. To our high-quality shops we added a state-of-the-art online sports betting platform. With Online Casino we are now adding the exceptional Red Tiger slots portfolio to further enrich and differentiate the user experience.”

everymatrix-contributes-to-the-carpathian-european-wilderness-reserve

EveryMatrix contributes to the Carpathian European Wilderness Reserve

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EveryMatrix is happy to announce a major contribution to Foundation Conservation Carpathia. The organisation aims to protect the unique and beautiful Carpathian Mountains from deforestation and create a wilderness reserve in Romania.

iGaming software provider EveryMatrix is joining a large initiative to actively preserve the forests of the Romanian mountains. The company donated EUR 50,000 to Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC), which will use the donation to conserve, restore, and protect the wildlife of the region.

In 2005, Romania restituted many formerly nationalised forests to private owners, leading to massive deforestation. Since then, the country has lost thousands of hectares of Carpathian forests, which poses a severe threat to the integrity of the ecosystem.

Established in 2009 by a group of 12 philanthropists and conservationists, FFC’s mission is to return the land ownership to the state in the form of a National Park. Through this effort, the foundation aims to acquire land, stop illegal logging, mass deforestation, and preserve the virgin lands for future generations.

Ebbe Groes, Group CEO of EveryMatrix, comments: “The current situation in Romania saddens me because we’re rapidly losing the very ground and wilderness that nurtured us. My native Denmark has a European record low areas of undisturbed nature left. Let’s not repeat that mistake with the wonderful wilderness of Romania! The Carpathia European Wilderness Reserve’s ongoing battle is a step in the right direction which EveryMatrix is happy to support actively with financial funds and knowledge transfer.”

Read more at www.carpathia.org.

skywind-group-partners-with-central-and-eastern-european-powerhouse-fortuna

Skywind Group partners with Central and Eastern European Powerhouse Fortuna

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Skywind Group is delighted to announce its latest partnership with Fortuna which introduces Skywind`s extensive content to a wider audience across Romania.

Fortuna Group is the leading betting and gaming operator in Central and Eastern Europe, offering sports betting, lottery, slot and live games for players in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Croatia, as well as in Romania. Fortuna is extremely popular and is known for providing a safe, exciting and personalized gaming experience.

Partnership with Fortuna expands Skywind`s presence in Romania and allows even more players to experience their content. Best-selling games such as Joker`s Luck, Big Buffalo and Combat Masters are available as well as Wicked 777, Wicked Spins and wicked dice the latest Wicked series title, plus Super Stea developed exclusively for the Romanian market. Skywind and Fortuna are both companies always striving to provide players with a unique gaming experience and the best content. We hope that success in Romania will be just the beginning, and the partnership will grow in other markets across Central and Eastern Europe.