Online gambling operator Aspire Global has struck a Russian lottery partnership just as that market appears poised to saddle its gambling operators with tough tax hikes.  

On Thursday, the Stockholm-listed Aspire Global announced that it had reached a deal to provide online and land-based lottery games for Russian National Lottery operator Sports Lotteries LLC. The deal involves Aspire’s BetoBET online sports betting platform, which will provide both gaming content and its Player Account Management module platform.

Aspire will provide Sports Lotteries with 10 instant lottery products for retail operations plus five draw-based products for both online and retail. The deal is for a three-year initial term with options for an extension of unspecified length.

The Moscow-based Sports Lotteries – a partnership of Russian betting giant Liga Stavok and the Boxing Federation of Russia – is one of only two companies licensed to offer online lottery products in Russia, the other being Stoloto. Sportslottery.ru launched in June after receiving its Russian license in August 2019.