April 2, 2025

Organizing of gambling, lotteries and betting in the Republic of Uzbekistan

From January 1, 2025, Uzbekistan legalized gambling, lotteries and betting (bookmaker activity) exclusively online. The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 814 dated 06.12.2024 establishes license requirements and the procedure for obtaining a license to engage in this activity.

Jurisdiction of Uzbekistan

It is important to note when Uzbekistan is recognized as a place for gambling activity. Uzbekistan is recognized as a place of gambling and other risk-based games, including betting and lotteries, if at least two of the following criteria are met simultaneously:

  • the player is a citizen of Uzbekistan;
  • the game is organized on the territory of Uzbekistan;
  • the player participates in the game from the territory of Uzbekistan;
  • an IP address registered in Uzbekistan and/or a cell phone number with the international code of Uzbekistan is used to access the game;
  • bank cards issued by banks of Uzbekistan are used for depositing and withdrawing funds, or settlements and clearing are carried out on the territory of Uzbekistan;
  • if the game is intended for players residing in Uzbekistan, including the provision of the service in the state language or its advertising.

Form of the subject

In order to engage in this activity it is necessary to establish a legal entity. The law does not stipulate whether it should be an LLC or a JSC, so the organizational-legal form of the legal entity is left to the discretion of the founder.

Licensing authority

The licensing authority is the National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP).

Term of license

Licenses are issued for a period of 5 years.

License requirements

As for the license requirements, they are set out in the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 814 of 06.12.2024: https://lex.uz/ru/docs/7257887#

Below are the main requirements for companies wishing to carry out activities to organize:

  1. gambling;
  2. lotteries;
  3. betting activities.

The main license requirements consist of the following:

  1. Activity shall be carried out only by legal entities – residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
  2. Availability of an electronic platform hosted on servers on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
  3. At the time of application for a license, the authorized fund must be formed from cash in the amount of:
  • for organizers of gambling and betting is 150 thousand BCV (56.250 billion soums ≈ 4.356.011 USD);
  • for organizers of lotteries is 55 thousand BCV (20.625 billion soums ≈ 1.597.204 USD).
  1. Also, in order to repay arrears of taxes, fees, and other debts it is necessary to form a reserve fund in the amount of:
  • For games and betting 75 thousand BCV (28.125 billion soums ≈ 2.178.005 USD);
  • For lotteries 40 thousand BCV (15 billion soums ≈ 1.161.603 USD).
  1. It is prohibited to use loans, pledged funds and other funds with obligations, as well as funds obtained from criminal activity to form the authorized capital;
  2. Organizers of gambling games may use only one domain in the national segment of the Internet to provide their services;
  3. Gaming software of gambling organizers on the Internet and random number generator technologies of lottery organizers shall have a certificate of conformity determined by the licensing authority.
  4. To obtain a license, the founder must be a resident of a country participating in international cooperation in combating money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

License fee

Each type of activity, i.e. gambling, lotteries and betting, requires a separate license. A fee of 500 BCV (18,750 million soums = 1,452 USD) is charged for issuing a license and 250 BCV (9,375,000 soums = 726 USD) for its amendment.

Documents for obtaining a license

  1. Certificate of state registration of a legal entity in Uzbekistan.
  2. Statement from the bank account of the legal entity, confirming the availability of the appropriate amount:
  • for organizers of gambling and betting is 150 thousand BCV (56.250 billion soums ≈ 4.356.011 USD);
  • for organizers of lotteries is 55 thousand BCV (20.625 billion soums ≈ 1.597.204 USD).
  1. Bank guarantee or insurance policy for the amount covering the reserve fund:
  • For games and betting 75 thousand BCV (28.125 billion soums ≈ 2.178.005 USD);
  • For lotteries 40 thousand BCV (15 billion soums ≈ 1.161.603 USD).
  1. Certificate of domain name registration (registration is carried out in the Ministry of Justice of RUz);
  2. Certificate of conformity issued by authorized bodies and testing laboratories for gambling and betting software, as well as random number generation technologies for lotteries.
  3. In addition to the above documents, the licensee shall confirm that the managers, founders and chief accountant:
  • have not participated or are not suspected of participating in terrorist activities or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
  • are not suspected or convicted of economic crimes, laundering of proceeds of crime, financing of terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption, cybercrimes, and their criminal records have been expunged or expunged;
  • have not been founders, chief accountants or held executive positions in companies that were deprived of their gambling license due to violations of license requirements less than three years ago;
  • were not members of the executive body of a company declared bankrupt less than two years ago.
  1. Also, the licensee must demonstrate the affiliation of the founder with the ultimate beneficiary. The affiliation of the founder of the company with the ultimate beneficiary must not consist of an overly complex ownership structure of more than three links.
  2. The certification body may request other information related to the activities of the potential licensee.

Format of documents

Documents shall be submitted in person to the licensing authority, i.e. to the NAPP.