On August 6, 2018, the general director and other employees of Rosbet LLC were detained on charges of having committed the crime envisioned by clause "a", part 3, Art. 171.2 of the RF Criminal Code (illegal organization and conduct of gambling, committed by an organized criminal group).

Based on the information available in open sources, Rosbet LLC was engaged in illegal activity involving the organization of gambling outside of gambling zones through the use of gaming equipment disguised as Rosbet betting shops.

However, even prior to the opening of the criminal case, Rosbet LLC's bookmaker's license had been revoked on the grounds that Rosbet LLC had violated the respective licensing requirements, inter alia, requirements on the location of betting shops, as established by RF Federal Law No. 244-FZ dated December 29, 2006 "On the state regulation of activity involving the organization and conduct of gambling and the amendment of certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter – the "Law on Gambling").

The licensing requirements had been violated due to the fact that the Rosbet LLC betting shop had been located in the same building/on the same land plot as a medical facility.

The Law on Gambling and other applicable bylaws contain a lengthy list of licensing requirements, including requirements on the types of premises where bookmaker's offices, betting terminals and betting shops (hereinafter – "BO") can be located.

Complying with all of these requirements can be rather tricky. This difficulty is evidenced by the fact that, even with only a cursory check, we were able to find betting shops of different bookmakers (including in Moscow and St. Petersburg) whose location violates the requirements established by the Law on Gambling.

That said, checking the future location of a BO for compliance with the requirements of the Law on Gambling is very easy to do. We covered this in the linked table.

Please also note that it is highly recommended to check the status of the BO for compliance with the requirements of the Law on Gambling from time to time after opening, since these requirements can be violated by the licensee if the property where the BO is located changes its status or another tenant (e.g., a medical facility, a children's institution (kindergarten) or a religious center) moves into the same building.

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