Russia’s bookmakers are now only a presidential signature away from setting up 2021 to be their Worst. Year. Ever.   

On Christmas Day, the upper house of Russia’s legislature gave its approval to plans for a dramatic upheaval of the domestic betting industry. The Federation Council’s vote came just two days after Duma deputies overwhelmingly demonstrated their support by rushing through the bill’s required second and third readings on the same day, despite the Ministry of Finance suggesting an additional month of stakeholder consultation.  

The legislation envisions a sweeping overhaul of Russia’s current market, including requiring local bookmakers to ante up 1.5% of turnover to the Russian sports federation on whose match a bet was made. A single centralized hub for online betting payments, run by an as-yet-unspecified private company, will be responsible for deducting this 1.5% at source. 

The bill also calls for the creation of a new Unified Gambling Regulator that will report to Rosimushchestvo, the Federal Agency for State Property Management. The two existing industry Self-Regulatory Associations (SROs) – which previously operated two separate payment hubs for their respective members – will be phased out.