Russia’s new online gambling laws

While most of us were getting ready to dig into some Christmas turkey, Vladimir Putin was signing new legislation toughening the penalties applying to illegal Russian gambling operations. No rest for the wicked.

According to news service RAPSI the new law was published on the Russian government’s official legislation portal on Tuesday 23 December. It specifies fines of 300,000 to 500,000 rubles ($5,300 – $8,850) or an amount equal to the offender’s income for up to 3 years for anyone behind illegal/unlicensed gambling operations which includes pretty much any casino, land based or online, based outside Russia’s designated gambling zones.

Gambling related laws have been coming thick and fast in Russia since 2006 when Putin first legislated a ban on Moscow casinos in favor of designated gambling zones. Those zones were changed in 2011 and then again in 2014 when Crimea was added to the list. The gambling zone experiment has become a constantly evolving beast.

With crude oil prices dipping under $US 50 a barrel, sanctions biting, and Russia on the brink (or in the midst) of an economic crisis, I wonder if we’ll see Moscow added to the list any time soon?

Until then and with the recently introduced tougher penalties, Muscovites may find that their favorite internet/casino cafe is no longer accepting bets.