The Seimas, Lithuania’s legislature, has approved the first reading of amendments that would allow online-only gaming licences in the country.

At the moment, only operators that have a licence to offer land-based gaming can hold a remote gambling permit in Lithuania. Online-only operators must partner with land-based licensees to be able to offer gaming in the country. The new amendments to legislation would introduce a specific online licence that wouldn’t require a partnership.

Operators who wish to apply for a licence would need to hold at least €1.2m in capital in the case of casino gaming, or €289,000 and €144,000 in the case of online sports betting and online horse racing betting respectively.

Meanwhile, a new fee would apply to all kinds of gambling licences. Licensees must pay a fee of €1m on receipt of their licence and an additional payment depending on the type of licence. That payment would be €300,000 for slots, €100,000 for bingo and €500,000 for remote gambling.

The amendments would also require the construction of new slot halls, bingo halls and betting shops to be approved by municipal councils.

The first reading of the amendments was approved with 74 votes in favour, seven against and 39 abstentions. A second reading is still needed before the proposals become law.

The Lithuanian Gambling Supervisory Authority has issued a €10,814 fine to operator Unigames for organising gambling “outside the gambling regulation”.

An inspection carried out by the regulator found that the combined betting function used by Unigames’ via a BetBuilder feature were outside of the requirements specified in the company’s rules.

The regulator determined that this product, which allows players to create their own multiple bets on single sporting events, was not permitted in the country.

A ban on various forms of gambling promotion – such as bonuses – was recently implemented in Lithuania in July.

A statement from the regulator said: “The company has been warned about the possible violation of the license… and is obliged to eliminate the violation within the set term.

“This is the second decision after the Gambling Act gave the Gambling Supervisory Authority the right to impose economic sanctions on gambling organizers.”

SYNOT Games has entered into a partnership with Lithuanian operator 7bet. Through this deal, 7bet can now access SYNOT’s portfolio of games including Respin Joker, Fruit Awards and Book of Secrets.

“Partnering with 7bet.lt furthers our already well-established presence in the Lithuanian market. We hope that their players will enjoy our games as much as many others before them have across Lithuania and elsewhere,” Milan Zdimal, COO of SYNOT Games, said.

“At 7bet.lt we are all about offering great entertainment and thrilling games to our players. We are looking forward to a successful partnership with SYNOT Games because with their offering, we are now able to provide some of the most exciting titles on the market,” Justinas Šliažas, CEO of 7bet, said.