Czech gambling operator Synot Tip has cancelled its high profile sports sponsorships in protest over the country’s new gambling tax hikes.

On Thursday, Synot Tip issued a statement saying it was scrapping “most of its sponsorship and advertising activities” with Czech sports organizations. The company says it is doing so due to the “sudden increase in taxes in the lottery industry.”

Czech legislators recently approved a new gambling tax regime, which saw them shift from a flat 20% on all gambling winnings to a tiered rate, with lotteries and sports betting taxed at 23% and slot machine tax rising to 28%. The increase was the second rate hike in the last four years.

Neofytos Neofytou, director of Synot Tip International Ltd, claimed to be “shocked” by Czech legislators’ “unprofessional and populist approach” to revenue generation. Neofytou said the new tax would cost Synot Tip “hundreds of millions of crowns” and thus it “simply can not support” sponsorship activities any longer.