Bulgarian President, Rumen Radev greenlights to proposed amendments to the Gambling Law. This includes a restriction on gambling advertisements in the media. On May 17, the changes will come into force. It is after the president decided not to reject the plan.
Radev had indicated earlier that he was deliberating on the changes to the Gambling Law. The President of Bulgaria was also waiting on inputs from his advisors before making a final decision.
According to a Bulgarian news website, Fakti, the new rules will not allow television, radio, newspapers, and websites from publishing and broadcasting gambling advertisements. However, there will be an exception when it comes to broadcasting the draws of the Bulgarian sports totalizer and the announcements about them.
A significant majority of deputies approved the prohibition on gambling advertisements in media. Novinite, a Sofia news agency reported that this was during the final session of the 49th National Assembly.
Despite objections raised by different media outlets, gambling operators, sports clubs, and other businesses between the readings, the government finally endorsed the amendments. Some stakeholders put themselves in a position against the ban argued that public discussion should have preceded its adoption.
The initiative for the amendments started from Bulgarian political parties GERB and DPS. Yordan Tsonev of DPS and Temenuzka Petkova of GERB introduced it unexpectedly during the last days of the 49th National Assembly.
Since then, the bill quickly progressed through the legislative process. It passed its first reading in the budget committee and later on received approval in the fully constituted session.
The Revival party submitted a similar proposal to parliament in early April. It is advocating for a ban on gambling advertising. Nonetheless, GERB, DPS, and the coalition party We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria rejected the proposal with their votes.
