Poll: Should operators reconsider the Russian market?

Russia has been increasingly hitting the headlines within egaming as the local authorities ramp up their efforts to block gambling sites in the country.

Last month, the Russian government signed-in a raft of new measures aimed at tackling unlawful online gambling, such as handing the country’s telecommunications state authority power to block websites without prior court order.

New penalties have also been introduced which could see firms found to have breached Russia’s strict gambling legislation handed fines of up to RUB 1m and prison sentences of up to two years.

As a result we’ve begun to see some operators scale back or cut off their Russia-facing business altogether, with Ladbrokes the highest profile firm to do so in recent weeks.

But while Ladbrokes’ revenues in the country are believed to have been negligible, several of egaming’s largest firms are thought to generate substantial revenues from Russia.

And any large scale withdrawal from the country would have significant impact on the bottom line of more than one publicly listed operator.

Opinion on the full nature of the risk of Russian market exposure is divided within the sector, with some analysts feeling there is no direct threat to operations and it remains a legitimate grey market.

But as the regulated spotlight on the sector gets increasingly brighter European operators are being forced to justify their grey market operations across the globe.

And the pressure on operators who want to be viewed as whiter than white could become telling if Russia continues its hard-line stance.

So in the face of increasing pressure both at home and abroad, how should operators respond? Cast your vote on the right hand side of the page.