The government in Cyprus has approved a bill to put an end to online gaming, which has been flourishing on the island in recent months.
The draft bans online games such as roulette, poker and slot machines. It will also regulate internet betting and companies offering such services will be licensed by the state. The bill also provides for the creation of a gaming board that will regulate betting in Cyprus.
Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said: "It is a very important bill, which tries to resolve a problem that has developed into a social scourge in recent years. These online casinos have been created on every corner of Cyprus and anyone, young or old can gamble in the same way it is done in casinos abroad."
Stavrakis added that a percentage of the total betting conducted in Cyprus will come to the state as a tax revenue, but could not confirm how much revenue the government expected to gain. The bill will first go to the European Commission for approval.
