Roumen Spetsov, Director General of Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA), has expanded the country’s online gambling blacklist with 52 more operators.

After an exhaustive investigation by the national gambling regulator, its specialised branch – the Electronic Audit of Systems of Gambling Operators (EASGO) – concluded that the websites in question were targeting Bulgarian users without having an active licence under the gambling law. 

Upon visiting the websites, some of which were bearing domains from Armenia (.am) and Kazakhstan (.kz), customers were met with advertising banners and accompanying text inviting users to participate in the illegal games by creating a player profile and then opening an account for deposits and withdrawals – all of which made easily accessible.

“I order for the provision of online games on the following websites operating without a licence under Bulgarian law to be suspended within three days of this decision,” Spetsov said in a statement. 

If the websites remain active after the given deadline, the NRA can then file a legal complaint against them through the Bulgarian High Court and issue an enforcement to all internet service providers in the country to block access to them. 

Bulgaria’s efforts to drive illegal operators out of the country have seen significant success under the leadership of Spetsov’s NRA, reaching a total of 2500 websites blocked since the start of the year. 

In September 2023, that number was 150. Fast forward to January 2024, cases increased to 600. 

AML capabilities have also been strengthened, with the NRA launching a new specialised subdivision last year to act as a protective body against money laundering under the regulator. 

Gambling shareholders in the country have also been actively involved in joint initiatives facilitated by the NRA and other government bodies to ensure that the sector remains mobilised to push back against bad actors. 

These efforts have proven necessary, as Bulgaria is currently listed on the FATF greylist – signifying that the country poses a high risk to the international financial system, including through the gambling sector. 

However, this could soon change as the FATF recently introduced new criteria to the decision process of how to place countries on the greylist. 

According to the new rules, the list will only include nations that are classified as “least developed” under the United Nations definitions protocol. As Bulgaria does not fall under this category, it may be removed from the FATF greylist when the changes are implemented into the next round of FATF assessments commencing next year. 

Another major development in Bulgaria saw the biggest changes introduced to its gambling framework in almost a decade, with policymakers significantly limiting gambling advertisements in the country to prevent exposure and reduce problem gambling.