The Russian government is considering legalizing the operation of online casinos as early as next April, with the market projected to go live in May.
The regulatory shift, driven by the Ministry of Treasury, seeks to balance the Kremlin‘s accounts in the face of a growing budget deficit, worsened by the sharp 50% drop in state revenues from oil and gas.
The draft government plan requires licensing of operators and establishes a tax burden of 30% on annual profits (excluding premium payments).
Thus, the State’s goal is to inject 100 billion rubles (around US$1.2 billion) per year into the Treasury’s coffers.
Why the Russian government decided to change strategy after 15 years of prohibition
The country banned online casinos in 2009, but the Ministry of Treasury admits that the population continues to bet hundreds of billions of rubles annually on foreign platforms.
The government’s Internet Regulatory Agency (Roskomnadzor) has failed in its attempts to restrict access to the gray market, reporting that offshore operators launch mirror sites and duplicate servers at a speed exceeding state tracking capacity.
Sergey Shvedov, editor-in-chief of the Legalbet portal, highlighted that the macroeconomic scenario accelerates the agenda.
“Legalization will ensure that national platforms pay the premiums, mitigating the risk that users currently run in the illegal market,” said Shvedov.
The fiscal deficit ceiling projected for 2026 reached 91% of its capacity in February, forcing authorities to seek new sources of revenue on an emergency basis.
The rigor of the legislative rite and structural compliance bottlenecks
Despite the optimism, sector leaders preach institutional caution.
Oleg Davydov, executive director of the First Self-Regulatory Organization of Bookmakers in Russia, recalled that legalization requires the approval of a federal law that needs to go through three votes in the State Duma, receive the approval of the Federation Council and, finally, the sanction of the president.
In addition to the long bureaucratic rite, the new market will face technical verification challenges. Parliamentarians defend a minimum age of 21 for access to online casinos.
However, legal experts warn that without the implementation of robust Know Your Customer (KYC) and identity audit protocols, protection of minors will be ineffective in practice.
