Finland is definitely one of the most developed countries in the world and has one of the strongest economies, though in terms of COVID impact it was not the exception. The country has been struggling and fighting back against COVID-19, thus people will still witness harsh outcomes and economic devastations caused by the whole pandemic process.
While many businesses and companies try to help people in need as well as the government, economic instability is yet inevitable. Thus, Paf, which holds the gambling monopoly in Finland’s autonomous Swedish-speaking Aland Islands, decided to cut the annual losses even more. Besides the fact that this was a very tolerant move, it also showed that the company is not trying to force out the last penny from the pocket of the players, but rather offer the entertainment opportunity.
It is not the first time that Paf is cutting the annual loss limit. It was back in 2018 when the company decided to come down from 30K to 25K EUR annual loss limit. At that time Paf lost around 16% profit that year because all of the high-roller players cut their limits to one third, which is a lot for the gambling operator.
This year, Paf CEO, Christer Fahlstedt announced that the company can survive without having the most of the income from the biggest players. This way, Paf decided to reduce the limit for another 5K EUR and make the annual loss limit 20K EUR. Many experts in the field predict that the cut-off shall affect the income of the company once again and it is about to lose another 2 to 3 million this year. The new limits will be enforced from the 1st of January.
While the coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing and every country including Finland is trying to manage the living of the citizens out of it, companies like Paf, with similar decisions contribute a lot to the overall improvements.
This is not everything. Besides the cut-off, Paf is being extremely generous with the donations for the government as well as to people. They have donated over 40 million EUR to the local government to help it deal with the social impact of the pandemic. This is definitely a worthy example, as the Helsinki government is trying to make Veikkaus contribute to the local treasury.
It is true that now as never before the government also needs support not only from the people but from the different companies as well. This should be an essential time for everyone to raise their voice. While the gambling industry is generally considered to be socially and economically non-friendly, casino game providers like Paf, beg to differ.
Several days ago, Finland’s government revealed the budget for 2021. The support funds include 347 million EUR. All of the funds and money shall be distributed in the arts, culture, sports, and private charity sectors. On the other side, Veikkus revealed that the pandemic shall reduce the profit by almost 300 million EUR, even before the end of the year.
Many companies are trying to improve and to work on their social responsibilities and their statuses. So far, Paf is one of the best examples of that. Veikkaus has now become one of the main focuses and targets for public criticism, while Paf managed to get though with the wise decision.