KDH: Slovak Post Office Promoting Gambling

Bratislava, 12 November (TASR) – The state-owned Slovak Post Office is supporting private gambling by signing a contract with private betting company Fortuna, owned by a financial group, for selling its gaming vouchers for player accounts, said representatives of the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) at a press conference on Wednesday. According to KDH, the management of the Post Office should cancel the contract in question. "The Slovak Post Office has signed a contract with private betting company Fortuna. This means that at 1,300 branches of the Slovak Post Office across the whole of Slovakia, recharge vouchers for Fortuna player accounts are being sold, enabling money deposits for betting," explained KDH vice-chair Marian Caucik. He specified that people who have player accounts can buy vouchers at Post Office branches to top up those accounts so that they can place bets, that is, gamble. "We consider it to be unacceptable that the Slovak Post Office, which is supposed to serve people, is selling something that may lead people into gambling addiction," he stressed. "A Post Office that was meant to become a symbol of trustworthiness and public service is turning into a sales outlet for betting and addiction ... We in KDH say a clear no to this – the state should not sell gambling, should not normalise gambling, and certainly should not profit from human weakness," emphasised Caucik. If the Post Office has financial problems, there are, according to him, many other options it could pursue, such as selling food, providing insurance services, printing, copying or binding. The sale of gaming vouchers, he said, is a desperate search for money regardless of the consequences. "And that is unacceptable for us. Therefore, KDH is calling on the management of the Slovak Post Office and the Transport Ministry, to which the Post Office reports, to terminate this contract immediately," said Caucik. mf/df