Finance minister proposes legalisation of online casinos in Russia
Ukraine says Russia intends to use online gambling as a “war financing tool”.
Russia.- Local media has reported that finance minister Anton Siluanov has urged Vladimir Putin to consider the legalisation of online casinos in Russia. According to the daily newspaper Kommersant, Siluanov believes legalisation could add around 100bn rubles (€1.1bn) a year to stretched state resources.
Siluanov’s proposal would see Russia create a “special operator” to work with online casinos and accept bets from adults aged over 21 through a single centralised system. The proposal envisages a tax rate of at least 30 per cent on all gambling revenue.
Online casino gaming has been prohibited in Russia itself since 2009. Betting can be conducted via betting shops, but the country only allows brick‑and‑mortar casinos only in designated special economic zones, such as Primorye Krai near Vladivostok, home to Tigre de Cristal and Shambala.
According to the Finance Ministry, the regulated gambling sector generates roughly 1.7 trillion roubles (€18.9bn) a year. Nevertheless, the Moscow Times has reported that around 100 illicit platforms operate in Russia, generating around 3 trillion roubles a year.
Supporters of legalisation frame the proposal as an initiative to counter black market gambling, but sceptics see it as a desperate resort to help finance Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine as it enters its fourth year with Russian oil prices low.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre (NRC), part of its Special Operations Forces, has raised concerns that Russia intends to allow online casinos in occupied territories, including Luhansk in Donbas.
RBC reports the NRC as stating: “Effectively, legalising casinos in occupied territories is another element of a centralized model for exploiting these regions. Under the guise of уconomic measures, gambling is turned into a tool of war financing, channeling civilian funds to support the occupation regime under direct Kremlin control.”
RBC Ukraine reports that the conflict has cost Russia over 42 trillion roubles, the equivalent of 22 annual healthcare budgets.
Ukraine relegalised gambling in 2020. Last year, the new gambling regulator PlayCity replaced KRAIL.
