Enlabs has declared they will willingly give up their online betting and gaming permit in Sweden. They intend to return to the market in the summertime after acquiring a new permit.
George Ustinov, the head of Enlabs, stated that the company will be dedicated to presenting the Pay & Play feature on their platform. This will enable players to deposit funds immediately without having to sign up.
“The Swedish market is vital to Enlabs,” said Ustinov. “However, our current system doesn’t support the so-called ‘Pay & Play’ feature, which is absolutely essential for some of our brands that we wish to launch in Sweden.
“Internal development efforts have already commenced, and we believe we have the technology, permits, and organization, along with a clear marketing strategy, to launch our most significant brands in the summer of 2021.”
Enlabs received a permit from the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen in March 2020, allowing them to operate gambling and gaming in Sweden through their leading brand Optibet. However, their services will now be unavailable until the summer of 2021, when Enlabs plans to introduce multiple brands in the market.
The company representative stated that Swedish operations currently make up a very small percentage of its overall earnings, so the closure would have a minimal effect on profits.
Enlabs also owns Global Gaming, which runs Ninja Casino. Enlabs purchased a controlling interest in Global Gaming in August 2020 and expanded its ownership to 95.8% in November. Global’s brand was previously active in Sweden, but its own permit was revoked in June 2019 after the Swedish Gambling Authority discovered “serious flaws” in Global’s business practices, specifically concerning money laundering.
In October 2020, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping, Sweden, upheld the Swedish Gambling Authority’s ruling, stating that Global Gaming “violated several regulations regarding gambling responsibility and duty of care, and therefore did not comply with consumer protection interests, most importantly the protection of problem gamblers.”
Enlabs observed a 35.5% rise in income in the third quarter of 2020, reaching €13.6 million, and a fourfold increase in profit, reaching €10.3 million, recovering from a 35.0% decline in revenue in the second quarter.
Enlabs is currently operating in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, and Malta. It is also seeking a license in Ukraine, which legalized land-based and online gambling earlier this year. It has established a legal entity in the nation, a prerequisite for obtaining a license.
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