ERAI toughens fight with Ukrainian operators

On September 22, a forum «Gambling: deductions for sports» was held in Moscow. Among the invited speakers was Umar Kremlev, a sports functionary and head of the state agencies ERAI and CUPIS.

At the forum, Kremlev shared estimates of the size of the country's offshore gambling market:

«The turnover of illegal casinos in Russia is four trillion rubles. 60 percent of it, unfortunately, is done by various Ukrainian companies. It's sad. Any of you can turn on a VPN and start playing. This is what needs to be shut down.».

Since then, the structures under his control have started to build a systemic campaign against Ukrainian operators. The first steps are aimed at limiting their presence in the public field, including participation of their counterparties in industry conferences, interaction with Russian arbitration teams and advertising partners.

Political analyst Ilya Gerashchenkov notes that Kremlin's statements fit into a broader course of strengthening control over the gambling market. In his opinion, the fight with Ukrainian companies is being used as a tool to redistribute influence and strengthen the position of the ERAI under his control.

Created in 2020 on Kremlev's initiative, the ERAI already then controlled the betting market with a turnover of about ₽1.25 trillion. In 2023, he proposed to transfer the regulator's oversight of online gambling. Today, the Kremlin is actually implementing this initiative using rhetoric about fighting illegal operators.