Good for Business, Latvia, Markets and Companies

The Latvian Cabinet of Ministers at the meeting behind closed doors today heard the ministry's report about expanding the operations of Latvijas Loto.

The government in principle approved the plan by the national lottery company to enter the interactive gambling market but for now would not disclose any details about how this will be done.

The Finance Ministry said only that Latvijas Loto planned to enter the interactive gambling market in 2018 in an attempt to fight the shadow economy in the sector. The ministry would not speak about the investment required for Latvijas Loto to expand its business, making it interactive.

Aiga Rozina, a spokeswoman for Latvijas Loto, confirmed to LETA that the government today had in principle approved expanding of the range of games offered by the company which would result in additional revenues to the state budget. No investments from the state budget will be used to expand the business of Latvijas Loto, she added.

Latvijas Loto is fully owned by the Latvian state.

According to the preliminary data, Latvijas Loto closed 2016 with a turnover of EUR 29.318 mln, up 18.8% from 2015, and its profit rose 24.2% to EUR 5.001 mln.