Latvia’s gambling regulator is still struggling to recover from the financial fallout of COVID-19 lockdowns, but now it faces a new challenge: a €7.3 million compensation claim from some of the country’s largest gambling operators. Latsson Licensing SIA, viensviens.lv SIA (now William Hill Latvia SIA), and Olympic Casino Latvia SIA have jointly taken legal action against the government, arguing that the 63-day industry-wide suspension was not only excessive but also illegal.
The dispute traces back to March 20, 2020, when Latvia enforced one of the strictest gambling bans in Europe, shutting down not just physical casinos but also online gambling platforms—a move that few other nations attempted. The restriction remained in place until December 2020, when the Constitutional Court annulled the law, declaring it invalid from the start. In January 2024, the Supreme Court upheld this decision, confirming that the government had acted unlawfully and was now responsible for financial damages.
For Latvia’s gambling industry, the past few years have been a relentless battle to regain stability. Despite the gradual reopening of casinos, revenue has not yet fully recovered, and this compensation lawsuit adds another financial strain on the sector. According to estimates, Latvia’s gambling industry contributed over €200 million in tax revenue before the pandemic. Now, operators argue that the government’s mismanagement has deepened the crisis rather than helped the sector recover.
With the legal battle intensifying, Latvia's government faces pressure to either pay millions in compensation or risk prolonged court disputes. This case could set a precedent for how pandemic-related business claims are handled—not just in Latvia, but across Europe.
