Three of Montenegro’s largest newspapers – Vijesti, Dan, and Pobjeda – have issued a joint appeal to the State Parliament and the Ministries of Finance, Culture, and Media, calling for a revision of the newly imposed restrictions on gambling advertising.
In their view, the law demonstrates signs of “clear discrimination” against local private media. The newspapers expressed concern that the new rules threaten both their revenues and their very existence.
The Government of Montenegro has approved a set of regulations governing the gambling sector, with the aim of protecting public health and revitalizing the national economy. The new Gambling Law was signed by Finance Minister Novica Vuković.
Back in March, advertising restrictions were introduced that significantly reduced opportunities for gambling promotion in the media, allowing only the use of logos – and only in sports sections. This drew sharp criticism from the three newspapers, which pointed out that foreign media platforms are not subject to the new rules.
According to the letter’s authors, gambling advertisements account for 10% to 30% of their current revenues. With the loss of this income stream, the media fear mass layoffs and a decline in content quality.
“Any restrictions on commercial freedom of the media must meet strict conditions in terms of justification, restrictiveness and proportionality, i.e. they cannot be imposed to the detriment of the legitimate interests of all relevant economic entities,” the letter read.
The speed with which the regulations have been adopted was highlighted, as the trio of newspapers argued that unlike similar developments in Croatia and Serbia, no transition period was given to media outlets in Montenegro to adjust to the new landscape.
“We believe that it is necessary to find a balance between the public interest in combating addiction to games of chance and the public interest in the survival of the domestic media scene and the sustainability of the quality of public information.
“The ban on advertising games of chance in the manner envisaged by the new Montenegrin legislation is disproportionate to the goals pursued, because the same goals can be achieved with less restrictive measures or measures that target the essence of the problem.”
One of the proposed measures put forward by the three newspapers is the setting up of a temporary support fund for print media as a “minimal way to mitigate the consequences” until a long-term solution is found.
As a sidenote, a quick look at Pobjeda, one of the publications criticising the restrictions, showed that it was acquired by Greek businessman Petros Stathis and his company Media Nea in 2014. According to investigative publication The Black Sea, Stathis has previously done business with Paul Phua – a controversial gambling figure from Malaysia with investment links to Montenegro. In 2014, Phua was arrested by the FBI on alleged illegal sports betting charges, but the case against him was later dropped in 2015.
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