Jukka Vihriälä, Chairman of RAY's Board of Administration said at RAY's General Meeting: "We are considering under what judicial, political, financial and ethical conditions Internet distribution would be possible. We need to consider very carefully whether Internet distribution would unsettle the conditions for RAY's independence and exclusive right to the extent that the risk is not worth taking,"
Currently Finland runs gaming operations via slot machines, toto (betting) and loto under separate government monopolies, RAY, Fintoto and Veikkaus respectively.
Stefan Wallin, the Minister of Culture and Sports, recently suggested one of the Finnish gambling monopolies, Veikkaus or RAY, should take control of online gambling "so that the profits could be channelled to benefit civic society."
He justified his proposal on the basis that the current system is 'unsatisfactory', citing "increasing cases of problem gambling" as one reason, and more crucially that "the winnings of existing gaming websites are flowing to companies operating from foreign tax havens."
This view differs from that of Mr. Kari Paaso from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, who previously told Gaming Intelligence Group that if online gaming was banned in Finland, the state would not offer an alternative.
RAY was established in 1938 to raise funds in order to support the Finnish health and welfare organisations through their gaming operations.
