February 24 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian kiosk chain operator Lafka Market said that recent changes to the country's gambling act, which impose state monopoly on lottery games, have led to a significant drop in sales and forced the company to terminate its operations.
Lafka Market has enough financial resources to cover its outstanding obligations and the company will do so shortly, it said in a statement on its website.
Last week, changes to the country's gambling act banning private lotteries entered into force and the licenses of all private gambling operators were revoked. Lafka Market generated a significant part of its revenue from the distribution of lottery scratch tickets of private companies National Lottery and Lottery Bulgaria.
Both the National Lottery and Lottery Bulgaria are majority-owned by local businessman Vasil Bozhkov, who was recently charged in absentia for organising a crime group, coercion, blackmail, tax crimes, money laundering and other crimes.
Lafka Market generated revenue of 240 million levs ($132.8 million/122.7 million euro) and a net profit of 4.9 million levs in 2018, according to its most recent annual financial statement. At the time, the company was 50/50 owned by FMCG Trade and Blagoevgrad-BT - a unit of local group Bulgartabac Holding [BUL:57B].
The company operated 1,060 outlets at the end of 2018.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)