Vlad-Cristian Soare takes the helm as new president of the Romanian gambling regulator
Soare replaces Gheorghe Gabriel Gheorghe.
Romania.- Vlad-Cristian Soare has assumed the presidency of Romania’s National Gambling Office (ONJN). He succeeds Gheorghe Gabriel Gheorghe, who resigned following the fallout of a damning audit report on the ONJN and ahead of the rescheduled presidential election on May 18, which was won by Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan as an independent.
A lawyer and former University of Bucharest lecturer, Soare is a newcomer to the regulator, but he was general director of the Romanian National Lottery from 2021 to 2022 and has held the position of President of FEDBET, the Federation of Gambling Organizers, since November 2022. Taking up the role, he sought to offer reassurances amid the politically fractious atmosphere, calling for the regulator’s staff to band together.
“I told my colleagues that it doesn’t matter how they voted—what matters is that we are here together for the same goal,” he said.
Daming audit report on gambling regulator
In February, the Court of Accounts (CCR), which audits government agencies, published an audit of the ONJN that called for a criminal investigation after detecting serious discrepancies in the ONJN’s monitoring of gambling licences and collection of fees.
It was reported that the ONJN failed to detect potential discrepancies in return-to-player (RTP) levels that may have caused the state to lose between 3.3 and 4.3bn lei (€630m to €900m) in gambling tax revenues. The regulator was found to have never verified financial data submitted by gambling companies and to have failed to issue penalties when required.
Gheorghe, who had been president of the ONJN since November 2023 and is the fifth person to serve in the position since 2018, was not criticised personally. He rejected an invitation to attend a parliamentary hearing on the matter and claimed that the failings identified in the report were the result of old IT systems that had since been updated.
Following the report, the Save Romania Union (USR) proposed replacing the ONJN’s supervision of the gambling sector with the national tax agency ANAF for land-based gambling and the National Bank for online gambling. It also proposed that gambling spend be limited at 10 per cent of players’ monthly income for both online and land-based activity.
Meanwhile, Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), has called for Romania to act to establish a proper national gambling self-exclusion registry. Speaking at an event hosted by the Romanian Online Gambling Association AOJND at the parliamentary palace in Bucharest this month, Haijer said a system should be introduced “as quickly as possible”.
He added that regulatory measures should focus on harm prevention through targeted interventions rather than a blanket approach, arguing that evidence shows tailored policies lead to better outcomes. The event was broadcast on Romanian television. In a statement issued afterwards, the EGBA noted that 17 European Union member states already have national self-exclusion programmes.
