Finnish gambling operator Paf says the country should end the online gambling monopoly held by the state-owned Veikkaus in order to more successfully address the issue of problem gambling.

On Friday, Paf CEO Christer Fahlstedt published an op-ed in local media in which he argued that “the problems in the Finnish gaming industry could be solved with a regulated license system.” Fahlstedt warned the government that its plan to attempt to block Finnish gamblers’ access to Veikkaus’ online rivals won’t achieve its stated policy aims.

Paf, which holds a gambling monopoly in Finland’s autonomous Swedish-speaking Åland Islands region, has over the past few years proactively taken steps to reduce its reliance on high-rolling gamblers, despite the negative impact on the company’s financial performance. 

Veikkaus, on the other hand, has more or less been forced into imposing similar restraints following a series of embarrassing episodes that exposed its sketchy commitments to responsible gambling measures (not to mention transparency in procurement contracts).