Russian sports betting operators may soon find themselves under the watchful eye of a new gambling regulator, whose chief responsibility appears to be ensuring collection of controversial new taxes.

Last Friday, two deputies of the ruling United Russia party submitted new draft legislation to the Duma that aims to amend gambling laws to create a ‘Unified Gambling Regulator’ under the control of the Ministry of Finance. On Monday, Bill No. 1055657-7 was forwarded to the Committee on Economic, Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship for further discussion.  

The new regulator will be tasked with getting even tougher with unauthorized gambling operators, particularly internationally licensed sites that offer products currently prohibited in Russia, including online casino and poker games. But the regulator will also be responsible for ensuring Russian-licensed bookmakers pay increased contributions to local sports bodies.

In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a proposal to increase bookmakers’ sports funding by “at least twice” from its current 5% of revenue, with each bookie responsible for a minimum payment of RUB30m (US$394k) per quarter. The Ministry of Finance has introduced legislation to achieve this result but the 1055657-7 bill proposes a tax rate of 1% of betting turnover, with each bookie responsible for a minimum payment of RUB5m per sports league.