Albanians hot on gambling

TIRANA, March 25 – Albanians have spent some $100 million in 2008 on gambling. That is almost double the $60 million made a year ago, according to the tax authorities quoted by an international news agency.
Lotteries, sports betting and casinos are privately run in Albania, and also are suspected of abuse by money launderers.
“For several years, the income from gambling and other betting activities has recorded a rather considerable increase,” Redian Kristo of the office that controls gambling told AFP.
The government body, a part of the Ministry of Finance, was founded recently to monitor the gaming sector, which is suspected of abuse by money launderers.
Albanian authorities estimate that in January alone, money spent on gambling had risen by 30 percent compared with the same month in 2008.
The Balkan country has one casino, more than 20 bookmakers, 22 companies that organize gambling games and nine offering lottery tickets. Thousands of betting shops are scattered across the country.
A gambling law, in force since January, bans people under 18 from entering betting shops, but teenagers are often seen there, according to non-governmental organizations.