BULGARIA
Gambling License
Obtaining licenses for gambling activities, tax consultancy & planning, legal strategy, consultancy, legal opinions & reports, and incorporating companies in European jurisdictions without requiring the licensing of related activities.
Bulgaria Remote Gaming License
The Gaming Act, 2018, permits the offering of gaming services for both land-based and online operations only if a license for a specific game type is granted to the organizer.
Only “legally capable individuals” of age for who no restrictions are provided in the Gaming Act or in other acts may participate in gaming. Persons with legal incapacity may receive tickets or tokens for participation in a conventional lottery, pools, and raffles only as a gift.
Organizing gaming activities is forbidden in public state-owned and municipally-owned buildings and in the land belonging to them, in sites of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, in buildings housing state administration structures, irrespective of the type of ownership over them, in educational, health care and medical institutions, and also in buildings which are co-owned, without having the prior notarized written agreement of all co-owners.
The activities listed above are forbidden to persons or on sites not having the respective license issued by the State Commission for Gambling, as well as the actual performance of the activity under an issued license if the Licence Certificate under Article 34, issued by the Chairperson of the State Commission for Gambling, has not been obtained.
Gaming is only allowed for persons of legal age (over 18 years old).
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Types of Games Requiring License
The Gambling Act stipulates that only the type of gambling games exhaustively listed in it may be organized in the territory of Bulgaria. Such games include:
- Lottery Games (including traditional lottery, digital lottery games, toto, loto, bingo, keno, and their variations);
- Sports betting (including betting on horses and dog races);
- Betting on other random events;
- Betting related to the knowledge of facts (Skill games);
- Casino games (including roulette, poker, and other card games).
Regulatory Body
The main supervisory and regulatory body is the State Commission of Gambling, which is generally empowered to supervise the activities related to the organization and offering of online and land-based games, as well as, the activities of the producers, importers, distributors, and maintenance companies of gambling equipment.
The Gambling Act provides for general requirements applicable to all gambling games, such as rules for each game, gaming equipment requirements, currencies of winnings, and maximum winnings payable per day.
Legal Requirements
Gambling licenses may be issued to Bulgarian companies or companies registered in another EU Member State.
For the purpose of making bets and payments of winnings, a bank account must be opened with a bank licensed in Bulgaria or in the territory of another EU Member State or the Swiss Confederation. There is no legal requirement whereby the money of the company and the money of the players have to be split into two separate accounts. Therefore, there is no need for the opening of two separate operational and players’ bank accounts.
If the applicant holds a gambling license issued by a competent authority in another EU Member State or the Swiss Confederation, under certain mandatory documentation and conditions for the issuance of such license may be considered as already approved in the Bulgarian application procedure without the presence of specific documentation to this effect.
The licensing process takes between 2-3 months unless the Gambling Commission requests additional documents or information in support of the application, in which case the deadline for making a decision is prolonged until the submission of such documents is made.
Each licensee must have a Bulgarian representative, who shall be the contact person between the licensee and the Gambling Commission.
The online gaming license is issued for a period of 5 years.
Technical Requirements
The game and database server of the applicant can be located within the territory of Bulgaria or in the territory of another EU Member State or the Swiss Confederation.
However, the applicant should have a replication server in the territory of Bulgaria of all the bets and winnings made on the territory of Bulgaria for the submission to the National Revenue Agency of information about the simultaneous gaming sessions, the bets placed, and the winnings paid to each player.
The gambling software, as well as, any new version of the software has to be approved by the Commission of Gambling.
Financial Requirements
Application Fee
- Sportsbetting €20,000
- Casino and poker games €35,000
- Lottery games €20,000
License Fee (covering the period of 5 years)
- Sportsbetting €20,000
- Casino and poker games €35,000
- Lottery games €20,000
Gaming Tax
- One-off fee €50,000
- 20% of gross monthly profit
Contact Szilaghi Consulting to Get Your Bulgaria Gambling License
Since 2004, Szilaghi Consulting has been working with startups, entrepreneurs, and companies already established for online gambling. We have worked all over the world, but we have a special and extensive practice in Bulgaria. During this time, we gained a deep knowledge of the requirements and general obligations of the process of incorporating the company and obtaining a license for gambling in Bulgaria. We have established relationships with industry stakeholders, including authorities, service providers, and other gaming companies. This positions us as market leaders in assisting our customers with Bulgaria licensing goals.
Through our extensive and carefully verified network of contacts in the country, we can ensure that you move efficiently through the entire setup process. We know everything you need to know about requirements, criteria, nuances, and possible obstacles and can help you prevent and navigate whatever comes your way.
To incorporate the company and apply for a gambling license in Bulgaria or just to discuss your plan, vision or options, contact Szilaghi Consulting today.
