Riga City Council votes in favour of gambling shut down

The council voted in favour of closing all gambling halls in the city, except the ones located in four and five-star hotels.

Latvia.- The Riga City Council voted on Wednesday to close all gambling halls in the city, except for those that are located in four or five-star hotels. Despite the approval, the process will be rather long as a decision to revoke a license must be made for each gambling hall.

The vote to revoke gambling licences in the city was unanimous. The Riga City Council’s Legal Department along with the City Development Department will come up with the new Riga City Council regulations, which will be in charge of the revocation of the licences.

Janis Liepins, head of the Legal Department, said that despite the unanimous vote, the process will be long as they will discuss a decision for each gambling halls, and there are approximately 200 in Riga. The halls will have five years to shut down their operations and ultimately the city will be free of them no sooner than 2024.

Current regulations establish that if gambling operations on the particular locations create a substantial impairment to the interests of the State and its residents, the city or local government council can terminate the casino permit, a gambling hall, a bingo hall or a betting shop, LSM.LV informed.

As previously reported, the council decided in May 2017 to close 42 gambling halls. Back then, their respective operators turned to court to appeal the decision and keep their operations running.