Due to legal advice and regulatory conditions Ladbrokes exits Russia

(Russia).- UK bookmaker Ladbrokes will leave the Russian market due to an exclusionary statute of UK and EU law which mandates a limit of their involvement in gray market areas to not over 3 percent of their total revenues if they want their UK licensing applications approved.

By the same logic, Ladbrokes is also withdrawing from other countries with gray area operation such as Finland, Romania and Portugal, after having left Canada and a number of other European markets last year including, Hungary, Norway and Switzerland. A Ladbrokes spokesperson explained the trend:

“We continually review our presence in markets according to legal advice and regulatory conditions. This is an ongoing process and the markets we have withdrawn from are not material.”

While the concern over the new stigma that the UK licensing requirement places on grey market regions, to characterize all the markets Ladbrokes has withdrawn from as not material is a stretch when it comes to Russia, representing a national market of 143 million people. However, the economic stability of the Russian ruble and President Putin’s increasing anti-gambling stance undoubtedly contributed to Ladbroke’s unwillingness to continue in Russia.