Bwin transfers Russia player base to Parimatch after market exit

Bwin will exit the Russian market to end a five-year spell of sports betting operations in the country.

The Entain-owned brand went offline for maintenance over the weekend but has since informed account holders that it will close permanently.

“In the face of rapidly changing realities and new legislative initiatives, we have made the only right decision for ourselves and are ready to give way to companies for which the Russian market is of the highest priority,” bwin said in a statement to customers.

“In order to make bwin’s withdrawal from the Russian market as comfortable as possible for all customers, we have reached an agreement with one of the industry’s leaders in Parimatch,” the statement added.

Under the terms of the agreement, bwin accounts and funds will be migrated over to Parimatch, and customers will receive a bonus offer from Parimatch as part of the transfer.

EGR understands the new legislative initiatives referred to by bwin relates to the forthcoming 5% quarterly sports betting tax on licensed operators, which is due to come into force in September 2021.

The tax, which is payable on gross gambling revenue, had previously applied to operators offering betting on Russian sports betting events, but has now been expanded to non-Russian events as well.

The bwin brand in Russia is operated under Entain’s sports betting licence and platform by Digital Betting LLC, which inked a deal to operate the site on Entain’s behalf back in 2016.

Under the terms of that deal, GVC provided the licence and technology, while Digital Betting pledged to invest €10m into marketing the project annually, deducting fixed royalties for three years with the ambition to gain a 10% market share in this period.

Digital Betting LLC was sold to Parimatch in 2019.

In a statement reported by the legalbet.ru website, bwin Russia CMO Yuri Kurylenko said: “The decision to leave the Russian market was not easy, because over the past year we managed to assemble an excellent team and achieve good growth dynamics in all respects.

“However, due to changes in the regulation of the betting industry, it has become almost impossible to fulfil our obligations.

“In this situation, we did everything to maintain customer loyalty to the global bwin brand, and found partners in the person of Parimatch, who were technologically and operationally most ready to accept our customers without any losses for them.

“Starting today, we are starting migration activities, and we will notify our clients about this with all available service channel,” Kurylenko added.

Parimatch Russia CEO Ruslan Medved hailed bwin’s launch in Russia as a historic event for the market, with its exit an equally significant milestone.

“Unfortunately, not all companies are now able to compete with mastodons and, no less important, with the market itself and its realities,” Medved said in a statement.

“It is important for us to support our partner in this difficult period and organise the transition of players, making the process as painless as possible for everyone, without compromising loyalty.

“We will do our best to provide all bwin customers with the level of service and quality of our product,” Medved added.