How will the fact that the deputies unanimously banned gambling advertising in the media affect the country's budget? Financial expert Lyubomir Karimanski, former MP from ITN and chairman of the budget committee in the parliament, answers this question factually.
- Mr. Karimanski, how will the changes in gambling advertising affect the budget? The decision was made very quickly. What effect do you expect?
- It is strange how so - right before the adoption of the amendments to the Law on Gambling, the amendments to the Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria were adopted, but without proposing an amendment in the revenue part that would be in line with the amendments already prepared by the same importers in the Gambling Act. Undoubtedly, there will be a decrease in revenue in the budget, but there are no numbers to reflect it. The preliminary impact assessment of these changes has been prepared entirely formally by the proponents and lacks any in-depth analysis of the real social benefits that may result from banning gambling advertising in conventional media.
The focus in the reasons for the Law amending and supplementing the Law on Gambling is aimed at adolescents and young people and the prevention of the negative impact of gambling.
This is also the reason for the restriction of advertising in the national electronic media. However, there is no such restriction for the Internet space, as well as for outdoor advertising located on billboards at bus stops and public places. Why? After all, it is young people who spend much more time on the Internet than watching TV. This is more than clear according to all studies. How has the effect of this influence been measured? Whenever the goal that is set in a law or in its amendment is some other, hidden from the public and is not realistically justified, then it is not achieved. It will be the same this time. The authors of this amendment to the Law on Gambling have conveniently left a loophole for “introduction of increased requirements for the presence of investments on the part of the organizers of games with slot machines, restrictions on the settlements in which they can be organized” through a grace period without being clear about what that grace period is and how it will be defined? It is likely that the next National Assembly may vote to have no such restrictions at all. That's a double standard!
- MPs unanimously banned gambling advertising in the media? Why…
- Based on what I said above, it is possible to have several hypotheses. The least likely is that we believe in the pure intentions of the importers to achieve a social effect. It is more likely a populist move before the elections, and much more plausible is the assumption of conventional media on the counter for sale and an attempt to influence their reporting data - reducing their income, and hence their market value. Of course, behind such a half-hearted and tendentious action of the proponents of the amendment, without a comprehensive character with a guaranteed social effect on citizens, can only direct our attention to influencing the sale of any of the conventional media and pressure, with the aim of denying real external investors .
- Why was this issue not discussed when the change in the Budget Law was considered?
- This is exactly what I raised as a question. It is not normal that there is no interconnection in the normative acts, so that this change should be noted in the 2024 Federal Law on Law.
- Could this be a pre-election move to exercise some kind of control over the national media by indirectly cutting their funding…
- Yes, I think it is quite possible. I developed a similar hypothesis. This is the case when there is no real economic analysis, the “cost-benefit“ in calculations and assurance of the effects.
- What the data shows. How we move with tax collection…
- The tax collection for the first quarter lags behind what was planned in the budget for 2024. I think that the lag compared to the plan is more than 1 billion BGN. The bad thing is that recently the Ministry of Finance has not published on its page a detailed breakdown of the implementation of tax revenues according to the Consolidated Fiscal Program, which once again shows that there is something worrying.
- The subject of the adoption of the euro has somewhat died down. A Law has been adopted, but we have no Normative Regulations. Do you think the banks are getting ready or will it be hard work at the end when we already have a date…
- I think that the banks are the most prepared for the introduction of the euro. What is more worrying is that “Bulgarian Post” they are not ready. This is according to the information I have. Much of the business is also unprepared. We do not have clarity and whether the control bodies are in place to prevent speculation and manipulation.