The regulated market will require that operators be licensed in order to eliminate fraud and protect players´ funds. Licensed operators will be required to deposit USD 460,000 (RUB 30 million) in a safety fund and undergo regular licensing compliance checks. To protect the interests of the licensed operators and to eliminate illegal gambling in Russia, measures are being put in place to channel payments to licensed operators through an exclusive online portal, with payments to and from all other illegal operations being blocked by Russian regulators specialised in the digital ecosystem.
The Self-Regulatory Organisation of Russian Bookmakers was established in December 2014 and is tasked to fight against illegal betting websites by applying international law. According to Yury Fedorov, the president of Russia´s National Association of Bookmakers, once the regulated sports betting market goes live, all payments to and from the licensed operators will be directed through the Self-Regulatory Organisation of Russian Bookmakers via an online portal.
By centralising payment processing through one legal portal, the organisation will be able to identify any transactions with unsanctioned operators and block them. Russian banks and other payment processors would also be ordered to stop facilitating payments to online gambling websites that are not included in the Self-Regulatory Organisation of Russian Bookmakers. The channelled payment processing method is aimed to stop all transactions between players and online gambling websites that are not licensed.
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