Romania’s top gambling regulator has pledged to “eradicate” any online gambling operators who refuse to abide by the market’s new restrictions.

Romania recently firmed up its plans to launch a regulated online gambling market, which came with a requirement that any operator wishing to hold a new Romanian license would first have to pay back taxes totaling 20% of their winnings from Romanian punters over the past five years. Applicants have been told to provide an accounting of their revenue broken down by year and by gaming verticals.

This requirement to submit to what amounts to an audit has led industry observers to predict a significant decrease in the number of applicants interested in acquiring a Romanian license. Just last week, UK bookies William Hill announced they were exiting the Romanian market due to “recent regulatory developments.”

But National Gambling Office (NGO) president Cristinela Odeta Nestor (pictured) told Eastern European Gaming that international operators were “extremely interested” in the Romanian market. Odeta Nestor said the country expects to raise €100m purely from direct taxes on newly licensed operators “during the course of the current year.”