Online casinos are being legalised in Belarus, and the age for participating in gambling is being raised.

Measures have been adopted in Belarus to improve the legal regulation of the gambling business. The corresponding Decree No. 305 was signed by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on August 7, as reported to BELTA by the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The document legalises in Belarus the activity of organising and conducting gambling games on the internet through the operation of a virtual gambling establishment (online casino).

For this purpose, specific features of licensing and taxation for this activity have been established, and requirements and conditions have been defined. In particular, it shall be carried out only on the basis of a special permit (licence); a guarantee deposit shall be held in a special account, which will be used to ensure the payment of winnings and settlements with the budget in case of financial insolvency of the organiser of gambling games on the Internet; tax authorities shall be provided with remote access to the virtual gambling establishment and such establishment shall be connected to a special computerised cash register system ensuring control over turnover in the gambling business sector; identification of individuals – visitors to virtual gambling establishments shall be carried out.

Furthermore, in order to minimise the harmful consequences of participation in gambling, the age limit for visiting gambling establishments, including virtual ones, and participating in gambling has been increased from 18 to 21 years. A prohibition has been introduced for visitors to gambling establishments to provide funds to other players for participation in gambling, and the obligation for organisers of gambling games to install video surveillance systems in gambling establishments, recording all visitors and the payment of funds to them, has been established.

The Decree will help minimise the outflow of funds abroad by restricting access for citizens residing in the republic to participate in gambling games organised and conducted on websites located outside the national segment of the global computer network Internet.