The deputy superbet-gold. A politician was paid for 300,000 euros by the largest company of the betting industry in Romania

Eduard Virgil Koler is a gold parliamentarian and, he says, “good friend” with Sacha Dragic, the Superbet CEO, the #1 operator of the Romanian gambling industry. For 4 years, from 2019 to 2023, while working at the PMP, Koler was the adviser to President Superbet, the SNOOOOop investigative site reveals, the politician taking, on average 5,000 euros per month.

• According to the declaration of wealth of Eduard Virgil Koler, the position of counselor was paid in 2024 with 290,000 lei, the equivalent of 58,000 euros. In total, the deputy Gold received from Superbet 300,000 euros.
• In 2023, George Simion demanded the prohibition of the gambling industry in Romania. As a party, gold did not request the ban on gambling. Of the European countries only Kosovo completely forbid them.
• Not the prohibition of the industry, but the regulation of advertising at gambling is practiced extended in the EU in recent years, especially in the TV area and online.
• A recent legislative initiative of gold, also signed by Koler, argues that offline cheats, casinos and bets are organized exclusively in tourist resorts.

Eduard Virgil Koler, 50, is at the first term of parliamentarian. It was chosen on the gold lists in December 2024, in the Mehedinti district. He is a member of the Commission for Budget, Finance and the Commission for Defense, Public Order and National Safety.

Simultaneously Local PMP counselor and Superbet chief counselor

Before joining gold, Eduard Virgil Koler was a local PMP counselor in Drobeta Turnu Severin. Simultaneously, Koler was also the advisor to President Superbet, the largest gambling and sports betting operator in Romania. The current deputy gold received over 290,000 lei (58,000 euros) in 2024.

Koler's relationship with Sacha Dragic, the Superbet CEO, is a “old friendship”, according to the Deputy Gold, in a statement for Snoop.

Eduard Virgil Koler was the adviser of President Superbet from 2019 to February 2023, according to the CV submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. In the declaration of wealth, Koler noted that he worked for the Superbet CEO including in 2024, year at the end of which he was elected a parliamentarian of the main opposition party.

Between 2020-2024, the collaboration with the betting company brought to the current deputy gold almost 1.5 million lei, the equivalent of 300,000 euros. The average monthly salary was almost 5,000 euros net, for 5 years.

“I met Sacha Dragic in Orșova”

Apart from these revenues, in the last declaration of wealth, in June 2025, Eduard Virgil Koler mentioned that he was borrowed by Sacha with 120,000 euros. The loan was received last year and has a refund deadline in 2026.

“I met Sacha Dragic in Orșova. He proposed to me to be the counselor of his reign,” Koler explained for snoop.ro.

“Sacha Dragic is an old friend of mine, who produces 450 million euros taxes and taxes every year. He is one of Romania's biggest businessmen and I am proud that I could work with him and I will work with him as long as I can,” said Eduard Virgil Koler.

Koler argues that, unlike other politicians, he does not agree with the ban of gambling and closing the business in this field.

How much the Romanians play

“Gambling is a CAEN code in Romania. I bring 3 billion a year to the Romanian state. I say it is sufficient. Personal, I think no company in Romania, regardless of its activity code, as long as it has a correct CAEN code, established by law, it should not be closed. There are things that should be delimited, it should be a CAEN code for sports bets,”

Taxes and taxes from the gambling industry according to government sources, were in 2024 of 5 billion lei.

In order for companies to be able to pay taxes of 5 billion lei (1 billion euros), Gambling companies receive 12.5 billion lei (2.5 billion euros), an amount that includes according to the NBR only cards for online gambling.

Between January-June 2025, the Romanians played about 5.5 billion lei at the gambling, which is equivalent to the cumulative annual budgets of the Ministries of Justice and Culture, according to the data from the INS.

Koler criticizes “populist politicians”

Eduard Koler attacks popular politicians who demand a drastic regulation of gambling because of the harmful effects on society.

“Let's think in an economic logic and leave the popisms. There are some politicians who have done a theme of this,” says Koler.

Asked if among these “populist politicians” are the president of Gold, the one who repeatedly requested the ban of gambling and betting, the deputy Aur claims that “George Simion is a politician who has his very good opinions.”

Avoid an answer, but insist on the “positive effects on the budget” brought by gambling

“If tomorrow is forbidden in Romania, do you think people will not play? They will play online and the money will take other countries … I tell you that if tomorrow they disappear from the country's budget 3 billion, they will have to be put back from elsewhere. And they will be put from VAT and taxes from others.

The phenomenon of illegal sites, where it is played without the state paying taxes, to which Koler refers, is real at European level, Bloomberg citing a study funded by the legal case industry, which claims that 70% of the gambling in Europe is practiced illegally.

Koler claims that he personally advocated for the prohibition of road advertising for gambling, there is no more advertising during sports events and for moving the tax office to Romania.

Continuation of investigation in snoop.