Opap Operators Strike

Wednesday December 2,2015 : OPAP OPERATORS STRIKE IN PROTEST OF NEW BETTING TAX (Update)

While OPAP considers legal action.

Greek betting firm OPAP’s retail operators staged a walk-out in protest of the Greek Government’s new gaming tax of 5 cents on each bet due to be implemented from January 1, 2016.

The tax forms part of an agreement by the Government to meet demands from Europe's eurozone bailout institution but operators say it will force at least 1,000 shops to close in an already stretched sector.

Hundreds of operators in Athens closed their doors Tuesday and marched to the Finance Ministry chanting "No to a parody tax, no to measures which will close our shops,” Reuters reports.

OPAP is already in consultation with its legal representatives regarding the filing of a Euro 1 Billion claim against the Government who it says had violated its monopoly