Bucharest to shift gambling halls outside the city

The gambling halls at the ground floor of apartment buildings in Bucharest would be shifted outside of the capital, termed a “neighborhood of gambling, if the city’s General Council approves a new project proposal.

The project also says that gambling halls cannot be located at less than 200 metres from schools, churches or other public institutions.

Catalin Lucian Iliescu, the general councillor who submitted this proposal, hopes his idea would help fight gambling addiction.

As per the sources, an institution under the subordination of the General Secretariat of the Government, Iliescu’s project would have a negative impact on the industry. That is because it could lead to a significant drop in taxes collected by the state, and more than that, many jobs could be lost. There are about 1250 gambling and betting halls in Bucharest and some 13,000 nationwide.