Tag Archives: CIS

The tectonic plates are shifting between Western and Eastern European gambling as noted by Temur Mikeladze, Chairman and Co-Founder of Crocobet. Sharp contrasts appear, as market maturity and regulatory tightening begin to set across multiple Eastern jurisdictions. An expert in scaling EE and former CIS markets, Mikeladze tells SBC that igaming’s future winners recognise the unique “cultural, regulatory, and economic …

The government of Kazakhstan will require all gambling businesses to submit direct reports on the gambling activities and profiles of Kazakh citizens.  The command was approved by the deputies of the Mazhilis (Parliament), who instructed for new gambling reporting duties to be added to the Tax Code of Kazakhstan.   As reported by SBCCIS: “As dictated by the deputies of Parliament, …

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan has confirmed that it will recommend stringent rules to tighten “public access to gambling venues”.  The announcement was made by Vice Minister, Yerzhan Erkinbayev who declared that his department is set to publish its recommendations on gambling protections as demanded by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Amongst the proposals reported by local media, Erkinbayev …

Over 1.45m citizens of Georgia have been banned from gambling under a series of strict reforms introduced by the government this month.  The figure was disclosed by Lasha Khutsishvili, Minister of Finance of the Caucasus nation, in an update to government on market developments. 2022 saw PM Irakli Garibashvili approve a new decree which prohibited individuals under 25, socially vulnerable …

The Republic of Georgia continues to tighten its national gambling laws, announcing new measures on licensing and taxation.  This week, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili approved new measures to ring-fence online casino licences, which can only be operated by land-based casinos based in Georgia. The decision could see online casino licences limited to the Georgian-domiciled businesses of Adjara Group, Crystalbet and …

In a new series for SBC audiences, global gambling advisory 4H Agency provides an in-depth breakdown of current dynamics and regulatory factors impacting the make-up of gambling in individual CIS nations.  The series begins with an analysis of Central Asian neighbours Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan’s contrasting approaches to regulating nascent gambling sectors… This article will provide an overview of the status …

Anton Kuchukhidze, Chairman of the Ukraine Gambling Council (UGC) has provided an update on Ukrainian gambling developments under the active Russian aggression.   Speaking to CIS markets news sources SBCCIS, Kuchukhidze disclosed that regulator the UGC had re-established its regulatory duties five months following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. UGC  oversees a marketplace that has been severely disrupted by the …

Further troubles loom in the CIS region as Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, has withdrawn his support for a decree to establish a national framework legalising betting activities.    Last week, local media reported that Mirziyoyev would no longer back plans for Uzbekistan to launch its first legislative framework establishing federal laws for ‘sportsbook and sweepstake’ services. Back in December 2019, …

PokerStars has notified players and media partners in Georgia, that it will terminate its online gambling services for the CIS nation on 1 March 2022.  The flagship poker subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, PokerStars has contacted Georgian players informing them to withdraw all account balances by the end of February. In its closing statement, PokerStars outlined that it would honour “customer …

Liga Stavok CEO Yury Krasovskiy speaks with SBC Leaders about its historic agreement with the National Hockey League and why this will help bring the sport ‘into the hearts and minds of the fans’.  SBC: Can you tell us about the nature of collaboration between Liga Stavok and the NHL? YK: We have signed an agreement that is unparalleled not just …