Estonia, a small European country on the border with Russia has recently legalized online gaming as a way to increase tax revenues.

Estonian citizens will be permitted only on Estonian-based platforms before opening up to international operators in 2011. Thus, the Playtech Group will remain in a very favorable position at the moment as the main provider of legal online gaming in the country. Playtech Executive Manager, Mor Weizer, commented on this development: “We are truly glad of this opportunity to start our partnership with Olympic as the leading casino entertainment provider in Central and Eastern Europe”

Estonia is one of the smallest European Union (EU) countries, with only 1.33 million citizens. It is bordered to the north and west with the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, respectively, Latvia in the south and the Russian Federation in the east.  It has had one of the world’s fastest growing economies over several years. It joined the EU in May 2004 and hopes to adopt the euro as its currency in 2013. Here, online gambling comes in.

Estonia seemed a certain entrant into the euro before the 2008-2009 economic crisis, which left it with the second most affected economy in the EU, down 36%. A country must meet strict criteria to join the euro area and Estonia is taking pains to come out of the depression in time. The Estonian government hopes that the taxation of gambling will help to revive its economy with the additional income and the influx of new jobs.

According to the Estonian Free Press, large international online gaming companies are now showering Estonia with attentionin the form of huge advertising campaigns, and there are rumors of substantial investment planned for the country to serve as a gateway for the entire Baltic Sea.