The Swedish government is reducing its control over gaming company Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) as it looks to “strengthen equestrian sports for the future.”
The move will see a 1974 agreement struck between the government and the Swedish Trotting and Galloping Associations, which own ATG, struck down.
The collaboration initially sought to boost the profile of and ensure the future of Swedish harness racing by forming a joint company and distributing the profits to the sport.
ATG subsequently had an exclusive right to offer betting coverage of harness racing until the reregulation of the Swedish gaming market in 2019.
But despite ATG losing this right, it still receives significant government oversight, which the Swedish minister of financial markets Niklas Wykman said can be “no longer justified.”
As per the new agreement, the government will no longer nominate members to ATG’s board of directors, the majority of which must now be independent.
The Ministry of Finance labelled the transition a “natural continuation of the reregulation of the gambling market.”
Wykman said: “It is no longer justified for the state to be involved in the way it has been in the past. With the new agreement, the company will have full responsibility for the operations.
“It provides the opportunity to recruit a board that can develop the company in a good way, increase professionalism and strengthen Swedish equestrian sports for the future.”
The new agreement also means that Svensk Travsport owns just over ninety per cent of the shares in ATG and Svensk Galopp owns just over nine per cent.
ATG has begun the process of appointing a new board. The proposals from the nomination committee will be presented on April 28, before a decision on the new board is taken at ATG’s annual general meeting on May 8.
“It's about trust from the government and parliament,” said Anders Källström, chairman of Svensk Travsport.
“Together with the state, we have built a world-class ATG for 50 years. Now Svensk Travsport and Svensk Galopp will have full ownership responsibility based on a continued agreement with the state.
“The model ensures commercial conditions for our economic future. We will take good care of it and thereby live up to the trust in a sport with roots throughout the country.”
“From Svensk Galopp's side, we are proud and happy for the increased trust as a responsible owner of ATG,” said Anders Lilius, chairman of Svensk Galopp.
“In the increasingly fierce competition in the gambling market, it is important to have an actor that protects our stakeholders, such as players and the horse industry as a whole.”
