OPAP agents call off their strike
OPAP-affiliated betting agents have suspended their industrial action for now after receiving assurances from the government regarding their main demand.
Agents want to have the application of the 10 percent tax on all earnings, even those under 100 euros, abolished, and the Finance Ministry informed them that the European Commission has agreed to the change in the law’s clause regarding taxation of earnings up to 100 euros.
The government has therefore committed itself to changing the law, but the agents will reconvene next week to examine the progress of their demand.
They are also worried about the consequences that the sale of the state’s 33 percent stake in OPAP will have on them.
The five-day strike that most betting agents staged this week has cost OPAP more than 40 million euros in gross profits, and the state some 16 million euros in tax. The average gross profit per day for OPAP, including weekends, amounts to some 10.5 million euros.
