Slovakia is preparing to open its online casino market to internationally licensed operators.

Last week, Slovakia’s Ministry of Finance unveiled draft legislation that would revamp the country’s existing gambling laws, including allowing international firms to seek online casino licenses and scrapping the monopoly currently held by state-run operator Tipos.

The Ministry framed its legislative revamp as seeking greater consumer protections for both land-based and online gamblers, while responding to “trends in digitalization” not foreseen in the current law. The Ministry claims to have studied regulators’ approaches in Denmark, Sweden, Romania and the Czech Republic in crafting its new rules, which could take effect by March 2019.

While Tipos would retain its monopoly over online lotteries, bingo and raffles, other online casino products – including poker – will be open to international firms that apply for licenses. Online casino revenue would be taxed at a rate of 23% (locally licensed online sportsbook operators currently pay 27%).