All the gambling halls opened at the ground floor of apartment buildings in Bucharest could be moved to a “neighborhood of gambling” outside the capital if a project submitted by a general councilor passes the Bucharest General Council’s vote.
The project also says that gambling halls can’t be located at less than 200 m from schools, churches or other public institutions, Romania Insider reported with the link to local Digi24.
Catalin Lucian Iliescu, the general councilor who submitted this proposal, hopes his idea would help fight gambling addiction. Iliescu’s project would have a negative impact on the industry, local G4media.ro reported. That’s because it could lead to a significant drop in taxes collected by the state, and more than that, many jobs could be lost. Data quoted by the local publication say that there are about 1,250 gambling and betting halls in Bucharest, and some 13,000 nationwide.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Voluntari, a town close to Bucharest, has a similar idea and wants to organize a local referendum on May 26 (the day of the European Parliament elections in Romania) on banning gambling and betting halls in the town, according to Digi24.
