GVC Holdings, the parent company of bwin and Alexander Mamut, a Russian billionaire, have been in the process of operating an online betting platform in Russian a few months ago already.
A Russian media outlet, at the time, stated that Bwin.ru would operate in partnership with Digital Betting LLC who secured an online gaming license last year. The third partner of the cooperation is an online technology firm named Rambler & Co. Both companies are owned by Mr. Mamut.
Despite high taxes and a restrictive regulatory regime in Russia, the GVC online gambling group has not been discouraged from backing its subsidiary Bwin’s entry into the Russian sports betting market, in partnership with Mamut.
Bwin Russia is scheduled to launch in mid-November under licensing held by Mamut’s Digital Betting Company. It has been reported that player registrations have already been accepted and an amount of £1.31 million has already been secured in sign-up incentives.
Although online sports betting was already legalized in Russia two years ago, Bwin is the first foreign operator to enter the regulated Russian market.
There are ten leading online bookmakers currently in Russia but GVC has done its research and is confident of success in the competitive environment.
Malmut has committed himself to investing an amount of €10 million a year in the new project – making himself a valuable local partner. He has also promised to provide the news aggregation and promotional services of his Rambler & Co (42 million members) as well as his Championat websites.
