Coinciding with a crackdown in which authorities have shut down 70 percent of Moscow's casinos and slot machines, Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing his proposal to State Duma for a new law regulating the gambling industry. The new legislation, if accepted, would come into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.
Among other things, Putin's bill includes severe restrictions on gambling via the Internet and mobile phones.
Online Gambling
Despite the prompt development of Internet gaming in Russia, the legislative base of the business is still at the stage of formation, and there is uncertainty regarding the legislation and regulation of online gaming. At the moment, no federal laws regulate online gaming activities.
According to Russian civil legislation, online gaming is considered to be gaming business. But at the same time, government officials declared that Internet gaming is an entertainment service and, therefore, it is not required to have a license. So, at the moment, there is no a license for conducting online business. Payment system and mass media companies, however, require gaming licenses.
Putin's new draft law states that online gaming is prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation, but the State Duma did not pass the law.
It is currently impossible to get a gaming license in Russia, although the biggest Russian casino, including online casino Anna, already has a license. Around 10 big Russian online casinos are considered to be legal.
Fifteen percent of all international Internet casino players speak Russian--evidence that gaming is very popular in Russia.
The country's Internet penetration is 16.5 percent, which amounts to 23.6 million of the Russian Federation's 142 million citizens.
Detailed information on Internet usage, access and structure can be obtained via the Public Opinion Foundation Database at: http://bd.english.fom.ru/report/cat/societas/internet/eint060501#Abs4.
Mobile Gambling
Russia has three operational mobile casinos, although their reach is limited. For one of them, profits primarily come from payments for downloading games to play for fun. Another one allows users to download games for free, but few people are ready to play with real money. Above that, GPRS connections break down often--even in big cities. Russia's mobile penetration is around 62 percent (as of the second quarter of 2006).