About 40,000 people work in Bulgaria's gambling and online gaming industry, according to industry representatives. They are worried about new limits the government is preparing.
The government wants to cut gambling advertising sharply. MPs from Democratic Bulgaria, including Bozhidar Bozhanov and Ivaylo Mirchev, have put forward a separate bill with extra rules that could hit the sector hard.
The 40,000 include not only staff of bookmakers, casinos and gaming halls, but also programmers, service centres, and makers of gaming equipment and parts. Firms that handle payments, identity checks, customer databases and servers are part of the count, as are technicians and mechanics. Land-based gambling employs even more people.
The limits affect licensed operators, and many related businesses depend on them. The industry says the changes could cut into the operators' advertising spending, and through it their revenue and growth. They will find it harder to win new customers, and some players may switch to unlicensed operators.
The industry says an unlicensed operator does not pay Bulgarian licence fees and is not under the same national oversight. It can serve customers from abroad without staff, offices or equipment in Bulgaria, and it advertises online with no limits. In practice, the rules do not stop it from attracting visitors and building a brand. If demand moves to such operators, the bets stay, but part of the activity, jobs and budget revenue may leave the country.
Less revenue means fewer orders to suppliers and fewer new hires, while investment and projects go to other countries, industry representatives say. Every change in taxes, fees or rules goes into the calculations of firms deciding where to place their next projects. If the rules change every few months, every investment carries the risk of another change, and the next team, development centre or project may go elsewhere.
Political instability and frequent rule changes make firms put off investment, said Maria Mincheva, deputy chair of the Bulgarian Economic Chamber. She added that companies are more careful with their plans for next year.
Companies that have had development centres in Bulgaria over the years include Bet365, Kaizen (Betano), Entain, Playtech, Evolution, Pragmatic Play, Genius Sports, DraftKings, Flutter and Delasport. An industry representative says Bulgarian firms making software and hardware for gaming have become leaders at international trade shows over the past 10 years. The industry also believes that, with the rise of artificial intelligence, Bulgaria is losing its competitive edge in software, where a middle tier of firms was taking shape.
Over the past two years, thousands of jobs at big international companies in Bulgaria have been lost or are about to be. Takeaway.com ended its operations in Bulgaria, affecting about 220 employees and 480 couriers. Bosch is closing its engineering centre in Sofia, which has about 670 positions. SE Bordnetze is ending operations in Bulgaria, affecting about 800 jobs in Karnobat. MD Elektronik is closing its plant in Vratsa, where there are more than 550 positions. Shortly before that, Leoni ended production in Pleven, where about 1,300 people worked.
The closures have different causes, not only tax policy in Bulgaria. Takeaway.com is moving to more profitable markets, while Bosch is hit by the crisis and restructuring in the car industry. Manufacturers are restructuring worldwide and are under pressure from competitors.