BOS: “Of course the minister is right when stating that the state should not operate casinos”

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) expresses itself in an op-ed, published today in Sweden’s largest newspaper Aftonbladet, about financial market minister Niklas Wykman’s statement that “It should not be a politically ordered task for a state company to operate casinos”. The minister made the statement in an op-ed in Aftonbladet due to his announcement that the government intends to close Sweden’s last land-based casino, located in central Stockholm.

In a response from BOS, Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt welcomes the minister’s principled statement about the inappropriateness of running state casinos. Hoffstedt also reminds the minister that the state continues to do exactly that online and that the same principled stance should also apply online.

-We welcome this principled firm stance on the part of the minister and foresee that a winding down of the state as a commercial operator in the casino market can take place during the mandate period, which extends until 2026, says Gustaf Hoffstedt.