Sep12
Kentucky Launches Regulated Sports Betting Market with a Bang
Russian Operator Liga Stavok Closes dot-com Activity
January 5, 2020 TamaraTam
Famous sports betting operator from Russia, Liga Stavok, has shut down its dot-com platforms. The provider hasn’t revealed the reason for the step, but some allegations point to payment processing problems.
More About Decision
Liga Stavosk.com has recently issued a statement to its official page sharing the “closure of Liga Stavok betting company.” According to the notification, the provider was “forced to announce the closure” of its dot-com platforms and advised s to withdraw their cash within 30 calendar days, after which “all registrations will be canceled.”
The operator has changed its domain address to evade a ban of Russia’s Roskomnadzor telecom watchdog. As a result, the site announced “place your bets as usual” message for the site www.bk-ls2.com on this past December. However, the site is still showing ‘game over’ notifications.
It remains unclear why Curacao-authorized Liga Stavok is making such decisions. There are some allegations that point to the Russian government’s attempts to hinder payment processing to international gambling providers which draw the attention of local customers.
Additional Mesures
Another online wallet provider – Qiwi –recently stopped its cooperation with international sports betting operators. LigaStavok.com warned customers that Qiwi payments were no longer possible “for reasons beyond our control.” As a reminder, Qiwi service is a reliable payment option for numerous Russian bookmakers.
At the moment, Liga Stavok’s Russian betting platform is one of the most popular among local players. The operator runs both online and land-based activities, but its online activity comes with 70% of the total betting operation. Liga Stavok president, Yuri Krasovsky, recently predicted that the operator would reach RUB57b (US$912.4m) by the end of 2019. One of the factors which will significantly boost Liga Stavok’s revenues is the simplified customer registration process introduced by the local government earlier this year.
The operator’s VP, Dmitri Pavlovsky, has pointed out that Russia’s Central Bank introduced an efficient payment system that will be tested by the company in the first two quarters of 2020. Additionally, Liga Stavok’s mobile betting app was chosen for the “best mobile app“ at Russia’s Runet Prize Ceremony. The prize has been invented for the best actors in the Russian online commerce sphere. Having into consideration that Liga Stavok received the award among other non-betting operators, it makes the success even higher.
Source:
“Russia’s Liga Stavok shuts international dot-com operations“, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, December 18, 2019.
Leave a Reply
Related News
The Russian gambling market faces serious challenges over the past period. Some of the popular regions have already legalized betting activity and operators look to ensure a better position in the market. However, the competition is harsh and international betting sites don’t give up…