Online gambling operator Marathon has launched its Russian-licensed sports betting site but potential customers must be willing to travel in order to register.

This week brought the official launch of Marathonbet.ru, bringing the number of government-approved online sports betting sites to 12. The Marathon brand is well known in Russia and the company has had a local license for some time but is only now getting its online feet officially wet.

As recently as last August, Marathon was expressing reservations about launching a locally licensed online site, in part due to the government’s frenetic approach to gambling regulation, in particular issues dealing with taxation and required payments to sports federations.

All Russian-licensed online bookmakers must process customer payments through centralized hubs known as TSUPIS. Marathon is a member of the Bookmakers Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO), which has a deal with JSC KIWI Bank, a subsidiary of the QIWI Group, to run its TSUPIS.