Finland Still Awaiting Veikkaus Online Bingo Approval - 05-12-08

May 12 - Finnish authorities have stated that it is not a done deal that its state-owned company, Veikkaus, will be allowed to run an online bingo service, despite that fact that a software deal was signed with Boss Media.

The government has said that it was still deliberating at various levels whether permission should be granted and had actually extended the deadline given to Finnish ministers to make their decision. All responses would be considered about the online bingo option before recommendations were made, according to authorities.

Gambling industry experts say that they do not expect the Finnish government to object to Veikkaus operating an online bingo site, given the very nature of this form of entertainment. However, European governments have, in the past, vetoed their own state-run gambling company expansions. The Dutch government recently voted narrowly against the development of a Cryptologic-powered poker and casino platform, despite that fact that the idea passed the country's lower house vote.

Bingo is not the only industry hoping to gain a legal foothold in Finland, as rumors that the country is weighing the option of opening a state-run poker site are also doing the rounds. However, the Finnish Minister of Culture said that, at present, bingo is the only form of gambling entertainment under consideration by the government.

Veikkaus is already in partnership with Boss Media, which supplies the company with other online gaming games. Boss Media has extensive experience with dealing with state-owned companies, as it provides Sweden's Svenska Spel and Austria's Win2Day with their poker platforms.

Finland is expected to make significant changes to its gambling laws in the coming year.

Submit This Bingo Article To:
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl