Romania's new PM faces gambling tax and regulator strains
Lula Niculescu takes office after a five-month impasse, inheriting a wobbling ONJN, fresh operator tax rises and a frozen €5m problem-gambling fund.
Romania has a new Prime Minister after five months of political deadlock and three unsuccessful attempts to form a government, with Lula Niculescu confirmed in the role following nomination by President Nicusor Dan.
The appointment rests on a six-month truce struck between the rival Social Democratic Party (PSD) and National Liberal Party (PNL), intended to restore enough stability to pass the 2027 budget, according to SBC News.
With every sector under pressure to help close a deficit target of 5.2% of GDP, gambling is among the industries the new administration could look to for additional revenue.
SBC News reports that Niculescu first has to contend with a gambling regulator, the National Gambling Office (ONJN), that has been in disarray, before he can lean on the sector to shore up the public finances.
Operators are still absorbing tax rises brought in under Law 141/2025, which raised duty on player winnings across three bands: 4% on payouts up to RON 10,000, 20% between RON 10,000 and RON 66,750, and 40% above that threshold.
The same law pushed the online gambling authorisation tax from 21% to 30% of gross gaming revenue and lifted the minimum annual authorisation fee from €400,000 to €480,000, while duties on fixed-odds betting and gaming machines were also increased.
SBC News notes that any further tightening risks squeezing smaller operators and land-based venues already adjusting to the 2025 changes, leaving Niculescu to weigh new levies against simply enforcing collection of what operators already owe.
ONJN itself has been destabilised by a string of leadership changes since an independent audit uncovered close to €1bn in unpaid taxes in 2025, a finding that prompted the resignation of then-president Gheorge Gheorge.
Vlad Cristian-Soare took over in April 2025 but was removed this August, with Valentin-Ioan Tomescu installed as the regulator's latest president. Reports over the summer also described current and former senior ONJN figures being questioned in bribery investigations, according to SBC News.
Because 85% of the levies ONJN collects from licensed operators flow directly into the state budget, rebuilding confidence in the regulator will be central to the new government's fiscal plans.
The upheaval has already stalled policy work, including a €5m grant scheme for problem-gambling initiatives that Soare had set in motion. Fifty-four projects were approved for funding in July 2026, but Tomescu's leadership suspended the programme on 2 October pending a review of its legal and budgetary footing.
SBC News says Niculescu's cabinet will need to show clear transparency in resolving that suspension if it wants to demonstrate genuine commitment to tackling gambling-related harm in Romania.