Villarosa (Mef): 'Gaming, reduction of volumes and Vlts is a priority'

Reduction of gaming volumes, implementation of the advertising ban and a national law: undersecretary Alessio Villarosa promises it to the program PresaDiretta, on the air on September, the 30th.

"We want to reduce the Vlts even more. It is a commitment that I take in front of you. This Government wants to reduce gaming volume as much as possible, because it has exponentially increased. It will start with a reduction but also aims to eliminate them". Target "reducing all those devices that are really aggressive and that are the cause of gambling addiction. And also of the related places". These are the words with which Alessio Villarosa, undersecretary of the Economy, traces the future of the public gaming sector in the interview to "PresaDiretta" Tv programm, for the inquiry "Vizio di Stato" (State vice), which will be on the air today, Monday, September, the 30th. According to reports from the Askanews news agency, Villarosa also concentrates on the ban on gaming advertising, introduced last year with the Dignity decree. "We need to check whether it is a contract already in place or not. And if there are any existing concessions they must be completed until the end but within the year (actually, by August 2019, as required by the decree, for contracts in place at the time the provision came into force). So, in 2020 we won't have any advertising. It is also a promise of the new Government". Then, the undersecretary of the Economy points out that legal gaming collects about €107 billion a year, of which 10 go to the Government. "Eliminating a collection of 10 billion in a year is obviously unthinkable, but I think it is possible doing it gradually". As for the need for a national law on gaming, for Villarosa "it is necessary to intervene, but not even to dismantle all the good that has been done in recent years (by the Regions and the Municipalities). So, it must be done but very carefully”.