OPAP opposes scenarios of extra charge or tax on its games

Odysseas Christoforou, director general of Corporate Communication in OPAP, in a statement stressed that any imposition of a charge or tax on the company's games would directly affect players' activity, reducing fiscal revenues as the state collects 30 pct on OPAP's gross revenue. Additionally, OPAP and its network of agents will pay lower corporate taxes and winners will also pay lower taxes.
Christoforou said that OPAP's agents were reacting against such scenarios since they expect direct negative consequences on the company's network. The company's 4,500 agents, their families and more than 20,000 workers in the network will be facing significant problems, he said, adding that for this reason and for several others OPAP was opposed to the idea.
He said that OPAP has already notified the government over the counter-efficiency of such a charge or tax and of the negative consequences while it has submitted specific proposals to combat illegal gambling -which was currently estimated at around six billion euros.
OPAP has contributed highly to the Greek economy and the society during the crisis by paying high taxes (570 million euros in 2014), buying Greek horse racing with 40 million euros and has recently financed a renovation of children hospitals "Aghia Sofia" and "Panayiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou" along with other sports academies for children.