Georgia opens International iGaming Licence regime for operators

Random Systems Georgia (RSG), the body appointed by the Georgian government as gambling regulator and policy adviser, has moved its International iGaming Licence regime from soft launch to full operation, according to SBC News.

The regime first went live in July 2026 and was built to bring the Ministry of Finance, the Revenue Service, financial regulators and the banking sector under one governance structure covering licensing for operators based in Georgia but serving customers abroad.

Parliament in Tbilisi has passed legislation creating permits for the international supply of online casino games, slots and sports betting from Georgian soil. Georgian citizens themselves are barred from using services licensed under the scheme.

Supervisory Board member Vakhtang Katamadze set out the plan at SBC Summit Tbilisi on 15-16 July, discussing it with gaming entrepreneur Nika Gigashvili of SMH Holdings.

Tbilisi already hosts a cluster of igaming operations, including product and development bases for Spribe, SmartSoft, Evolution Gaming, Flutter, Entain and Betsson, SBC News reports. Much of the licensing and financial infrastructure those companies rely on, however, has historically sat outside Georgia, and RSG wants the country to retain more of that value.

"We believe the foundations are already in place. Now it is time to demonstrate that Georgia can offer the regulatory certainty and institutional confidence international businesses expect," Katamadze told SBC News.

Since September 2026, the Georgia International Strategic Group (GISG) has been marketing the regime abroad, pairing a five-year licence term with routes into Georgian corporate banking and payment processing set up under the gambling-related merchant category code 7995.

Katamadze framed the project as more than a licensing product. "Georgia is not building another licensing jurisdiction. We are building a country-level ecosystem for international iGaming," he said in the launch statement given to SBC News, adding that licensing, banking, payments, taxation, regulation and operational support need to function as one system rather than separate hurdles.

He positioned Georgia as distinct from established hubs such as Malta and Gibraltar, aiming instead at operators drawn from the West, Asia, and the neighbouring CIS and Central Asian markets. "None of them have a natural home today. Georgia is where these worlds meet," he said, adding that the technology base already exists locally and that licensing and payments capacity are now being added alongside it.

The international regime is being kept separate from Georgia's domestic gambling market.

GISG's published pitch includes a 5% levy on gross gaming revenue, no tax on reinvested profits, remote onboarding and no requirement to maintain a physical office, alongside a 1% regulatory monitoring fee and an annual permit fee. The group said in its launch statement that a further set of favourable terms would be announced in October.

On the question of whether operators will actually commit, GISG said trust would be demonstrated through practice rather than legislation alone. "Trust is not written into law it is earned in practice. Georgia is earning it now: banks are onboarding operators, the regulator answers in days, the first licensees are preparing to go live," the group said, inviting operators to assess the system directly rather than take its claims on faith.