The Romanian National Office for Gambling (Oficiul National pentru Jocuri de Noroc, ONJN) has released Order 771/2024 on the Joint Operation of Gambling Activities, outlining the way in which B2B and B2C operators should conduct joint ventures in the nation.
The order, which came into effect on Thursday 29 August, states that ‘joint operation of gambling activities by two or more companies holding a Class I and/or Class II license, bound by one or more contracts concluded under the law,’ can share the responsibility of running a gambling venture.
This joint venture must be outlined in a written contract, outlining these individual responsibilities, which must be concluded under law.
In passing the order, ‘any contrary provisions are repealed.’ The order was also published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
The order was passed with consideration to several other laws currently in play in the Romanian gambling market, including Competition Law No. 21/1996, Law No. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code and Law No. 287/2009 regarding the Civil Code. All this is to say, the ONJN has assessed the current law and added this new order with thought – however, some have pointed to some flaws with the order.
Insights
Andrei Cosma, Partner with Baciu Partners, spoke to Gambling Insider to better explain the order. Giving some background, he said: “This order is issued in a context where the primary gambling legislation was amended a few months ago by introducing the limitation to have joint ventures only with B2B providers that hold a Class 2 licence (prior to this change, a constant practice on the Romanian market was for (mostly) land-based operators to sign joint ventures with various partners that did not hold a B2B licence).”
The order, Cosma wrote, “should be to detail how exactly a joint venture may be structured between a B2C operator and a B2B provider.” However, Cosma felt the order lacked specific detail.
He wrote: “The regulator has simply chosen to issue an order that pretty much uses the same general wording from the already existing legislation.”
We will be looking deeper into this topic in the October issue of Trafficology.
What does this mean for the market?
There has been a surge of interest in the Romanian gambling market this year. In February, Trafficology wrote:
“Can we expect more brands to begin applying for Romanian licences, or partnering with Romanian operators? Most likely. While the growth seen over the past month may taper, we doubt it will conclude anytime soon. Brands have noticed the value in the market and have been drawn to it like moths to flames, making attitudes towards the Romanian market somewhat similar to market trends in Ontario.”
Indeed, this trend has not slowed down – since June, Oddsgate, ThrillTech and 3 Oaks Gaming have been awarded licences or begun operations in the nation, while Wazdan expanded its presence in the nation in June via a partnership with Winmasters.
Even changes in the law have not stopped this interest. As Anna-Maria Baciu, Partner at Simion & Baciu explained in our February Trafficology issue, at the time, there were “around 475 Class 2 licences for suppliers in the gambling field.” The industry experienced an increase in gambling operation taxes in October 2023, yet “irrespective of this, we continue to see interest from foreign companies in obtaining Romanian licences, proof of the market’s stability.”
So, if a hike in taxes (almost doubling for some licence holders) didn’t stop the growth of the market, a generally worded order on joint venture procedures will likely not halt its growth either.
