Online Casinos are Making Progress in Lithuania

Posted: January 11, 2010

Updated: October 4, 2017

The gambling market in Lithuania has been one slow to bloom. The small Baltic state only regained its independence less than twenty

The gambling market in Lithuania has been one slow to bloom. The small Baltic state only regained its independence less than twenty years ago. Unlike other countries which adopted policies favorable to the gambling industry and the benefits that it offers, Lithuanian gambling laws were slow to develop.

This lack in initiative and generally stiff attitude towards gambling in Lithuania can largely be attributed to the high concentration of Catholics within the country. In 1994, the National Gambling and Gaming Business Association (NGGBA) started lobbying for gambling, but its efforts were only rewarded in 2001. Lithuania’s first casino was opened in early 2002.

Since 2002, the gambling market has crept into the country with more success. Even internet gambling in Lithuania has seen a certain measure of success. Many internet casinos have shown interest and probed out the Baltic region as a potentially ripe market.

Until very recently, local companies dominated the market of online gambling in the country, but the government offered relatively little resistance to foreign based online casinos in Lithuania.

The older legislation did not lay restrictions down regarding online gambling as the term is never actually defined in law. New legislation is working on defining online gambling and how such facilities should operate. The Lithuanian government is quite lax when it comes to the subject and the market remains open.

Changes are expected in the near future, but nothing too dramatic. The Lithuanians are likely to follow in the footsteps of the Estonians who opened their market to all EU based online gaming sites on the condition that they pay a higher sum for licenses and applications.

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