The law that bans smoking in enclosed public spaces will strongly affect the local casino industry, said Violeta Radoi, the general manager of the Slot Organizers Association ROMSLOT.

In other EU countries, the smoking ban has led to a drop of 30-40% in the gambling operators’ revenues, she added, according to local Wall-street.ro.

This would also affect the revenues the industry pays to the Romanian state. In 2012, the state collected EUR 650 million from gambling operators from taxes and fees, according to the ROMSLOT representative.

In many EU countries, such as Italy, Austria, Belgium and Sweden, the smoking ban doesn’t apply to gambling halls, Radoi argued. “Smoking is allowed, under various conditions, in most countries in the EU. Such solutions can be implemented in Romania too,” she said.

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editor@romania-insider.com