Belarus

Online gambling is legal but heavily regulated. Operators must obtain a license from the Ministry of Taxes and Levies. Sports betting is legal and regulated under the same framework as other forms of gambling.

However, in July 2018, Belarus took some tentative steps toward modernizing its gaming regulatory laws, including legalizing online gambling. Sergei Nalivaiko, head of the government’s Ministry of Taxes and Levies, drafted legislation that would address a number of gaming-related issues, including a proposal to license and tax online gambling operators.

The legislation included a two-year transitional period in which online gambling operators could operate with special permits while they adjusted operations to conform with the new law. Presidential Decree No. 305 “On the improvement of legal regulation of gaming” was signed on 7 August 2018 and fully legalized online casinos and betting from 1 April 2019, subject to a two-year transition and strict requirements on technical certification, information security and examination of each “virtual gambling establishment.”

Presidential Decree No. 226 of 6 June 2025, whose main provisions took effect on 11 March 2026, replaced the 2005 and 2018 gambling decrees. Slot machine models must now be listed in the State Register; every gaming table, slot machine, cash desk and online platform must connect to the state Special Computer Cash Register System, which records stakes and payouts in real time; operators may not lend players money or accept stakes from third-party accounts; players must be identified by live video session before gambling; and card issuers must refuse payments to foreign gambling recipients coded MCC 7995.