Georgia introduces preferential licences for foreign-facing casinos
The Georgian parliament has begun expedited consideration of a bill that would introduce a lighter regulatory regime for online operators serving exclusively foreign audiences. The draft legislation provides for a preferential tax rate of 5 per cent on gross gaming revenue (GGR), compared with the 20 per cent paid by operators serving Georgian citizens. Access to such platforms will be automatically blocked for Georgian nationals.
The amendments to the Law “On the Organization of Lotteries, Gambling and Prize Games” were submitted by five MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party, including Shota Berekashvili, the Chair of the Economic Policy Committee, who presented the bill at the committee session. A date for the full parliamentary vote has not yet been set.
The economic backdrop against which the bill has emerged is telling: Georgia’s regulated market recorded a 28 per cent decline in demand over nine months, a direct consequence of years of tightening domestic regulation.
What the bill changes
The official parliamentary press release sets out three new categories of permit covering online casinos, slots and sports betting. All three are intended exclusively for foreign nationals and stateless persons. Each permit will be valid for five years, with an annual fee of GEL 100,000 (approximately €33,000). By comparison, a standard online casino licence allowing operators to serve Georgian citizens costs GEL 5m (approximately €1.67m) per year, 50 times higher than the proposed foreign-facing permit. The tax rate gap is fourfold: 5 per cent of GGR against 20 per cent.
The bill also tightens domain name rules: each permit will allow an operator to hold only one domain, down from the current two, with a transitional period provided for existing licensees. Breaching permit conditions or failing to make a payment will carry a fine of GEL 20,000 (approximately €6,500).
The bill’s authors make no secret of its objectives:
- attracting foreign investment; and
- creating jobs in software development, cybersecurity and digital marketing.
The third step in a two-year reform
The bill is the latest step in a reform programme that has been under way since 2022. The pivotal step came with amendments that entered into force on 1 December 2024: operators were permitted to run separate domains for local and international audiences, revenue from foreign players became subject to the 5 per cent rate, and their winnings were exempted from taxation.
At the same time, the state has been narrowing the domestic market. The minimum gambling age for Georgian citizens is currently 25, while foreign nationals may play from the age of 18. By December 2025, more than 1.5 million citizens had been placed on the exclusion register, including public servants, socially vulnerable individuals, and all citizens under 25. With a population of around 3.9 million, nearly 40 per cent of Georgians are barred from gambling.
As SBC News reports, the strategy Georgia is pursuing resembles the models adopted by Malta, Gibraltar and Estonia, jurisdictions that have long treated gambling as an export industry rather than a domestic consumer activity. According to the Malta Gaming Authority, the iGaming sector generated €1.37bn in added value for the island in 2024, equivalent to around 7 per cent of GDP, at a 5 per cent tax rate. In Gibraltar, where the rate stands at just 0.15 per cent, the industry accounts for approximately 20 per cent of GDP and employs more than 3,000 residents. Estonia followed a similar path in December 2025, when parliament approved a gradual reduction of its gambling tax from 6 per cent to 4 per cent by 2029, with the explicit aim of attracting operators currently based in Malta or Curaçao.
A parallel bill
In April 2026, a separate document from the Ministry of Finance was submitted to parliament, proposing to increase fines for gambling operators. That measure entered into force on 1 June 2026. The penalties were raised substantially:
- for casinos: from GEL 7,000 to GEL 20,000 (approximately €6,500).
- for slot machine halls: from GEL 1,000 to GEL 10,000 (approximately €3,300).
- for gaming clubs and gambling service providers: from GEL 2,000 to GEL 10,000 (approximately €3,300).
- for online casinos, online slots and online sportsbooks: from GEL 7,000 to GEL 20,000 (approximately €6,600).
The Ministry of Finance’s reasoning was straightforward: under the previous penalty regime, operators found it cheaper to pay fines than to comply with requirements.
What comes next
The two measures advanced within the same reform cycle reflect a single policy approach: softer for foreign investors, harder for domestic violators. The fines bill is already in force. If parliament also passes the foreign licensing bill, Georgia will have firmly established the following model: gambling for its own citizens remains among the most restricted in the region, while for foreign audiences, the country begins to compete with established iGaming jurisdictions.
This article was first published on the Russian SiGMA News page on 29 June 2026.
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