Bulgaria Legislature Votes to Abolish Gaming Regulator

Last week Bulgaria's legislature voted to abolish the country's national gaming regulator in order to form a new body to overhaul the country's gambling laws.

The bill is officially known as Bill 054-01-51 to Amend and Supplement the Gambling Act, and it successfully made it through its first reading after passing through various committees. The bill was originally drafted with the goal of creating the State Gambling Agency, but it was dropped after politicians introduced amendments to allow the National Revenue Agency to assume the role of regulator.

With the bill's passage, it will now head to the desk of President Ruman Radev, who can either sign it into law or veto it and send the legislation back to the drawing board.

The Balkan country has had its gambling industry in flux over the past year, as the former chair of the State Gaming Commission was detained by police in February related to his relationship with betting mogul Vazsil Bozhkov. Bozhkov is facing charges of tax fraud, attempted bribery, and organized crime. Needless to say, the country is keen to get away from having potential corruption ruining what could be a thriving way to raise tax revenues and protect punters.

We'll follow the story and inform you if President Radev signs the bill into law.