Russian Federation

In late 2010, a bill was introduced proposing to fine gamblers (the individual persons) between 500 and 2,000 rubles for gambling activities outside the official gambling zones using mobile networks and the Internet. The bill stipulates that online casinos and poker rooms will remain illegal in Russia. The prior law targeted the organizers of gambling, not the individual.

As of early 2011, there is no online gambling legislation, licensing, or regulatory infrastructure in Russia. Residents of Russia wishing to gamble online must play at offshore-owned and offshore-operated websites.

In late 2012, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that no trace of online gambling should be accessible. Internet service providers face the loss of their license for providing any form of information relating to online betting. This ruling overturns a previous ruling by a court in Pskov ruling that Internet service provider Rostelecom did not have to block access to online gambling sites. The Supreme Court’s decision is based on the decision that providing access to restricted information is equal to disseminating it and therefore even sites only containing information in regards to online gambling (not actual gambling provided) must be blocked. The ruling has not yet been enforced and applied.