Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has warned Entertainment Laboratories (Enlabs) that it risks having its licence revoked due to inactivity.
The governing body has given the operator until July to kick off proceedings.
Still no launch in Sweden
Enlabs obtained a licence to offer online sports betting and casino in Sweden on December 17th, 2018. The Scandinavian country re-regulated its online gambling market at the beginning of 2019.
However, according to Spelinspektionen, the operator still hasn’t gone live. To prompt a launch, an official warning has now been given.
Enlabs’ Swedish licence is valid until the end of 2023. It covers a variety of its domains, including BestBet and OptiBet.
Enlabs intends to launch before the deadline
Since Spelinspektionen’s warning, Enlabs has spoken about its future intentions. President & CEO George Ustinov had the following to say.
“The Swedish Gambling Authority decision to give us a warning due to inactivity was not unexpected and did not change our communicated strategy for the Swedish market. We believe the authority’s assessment is reasonable and we will offer games under our Swedish license no later than June 2020, and thus retain the license.
“In particular, I would like to emphasise that the authority’s warning only arises because we did not offer gaming operations under our license and does not entail any financial consequences. We look forward to a launch in Sweden and continue to monitor market conditions in order to seize the opportunities that arise.”
Having recently been the company’s Operational Manager and CFO, Ustinov was appointed in his current position last month. He has been at Enlabs since 2017.
Niklas Braathen, Enlabs Chairman, shared his thoughts on Ustinov’s career progress.
“The board is very pleased that George Ustinov will lead Enlabs in the future. George has during his time in the group demonstrated the ability to quickly make and implement decisions, has solid knowledge of the Eastern European gaming markets, and possesses the leadership skills that Enlabs continues to develop.”
