Russia proposes further curbs to playing with international online gambling sites

Russia is proposing further steps to choke off the flow of money to unauthorized international online gambling sites.

Last week, a Ministry of Finance representative told business daily Kommersant that amendments had been proposed to the country’s 115-FZ legislation, which prohibits financial institutions from processing transactions associated with illicit activities, including terrorism and non-approved gambling operators. Russia already has plans to process all transactions with licensed online sports betting operators through a central channel.

Konstantin Makarov, president of the Russian Bookmakers Association, told Bookmakersrating.ru that the specifics of the proposal weren’t yet clear but appeared to apply only to Russia-based financial institutions. As such, Makarov believes the proposal would have little effect if punters chose to route funds through international online financial channels.

Oreg Zhuravsky, who heads up the First Self-Regulatory Organization of Russian Bookmakers, acknowledged that technical workarounds can usually be found to circumvent such obstructions. Regardless, Zhuravsky expressed a more positive view of the proposed changes, saying they could reduce business with international sites to just 5% or 10% of its current state, although he cautioned that the proposal was a long way from becoming law.