Belarus bans minors from electronic instant lotteries

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree banning participation in electronic instant lotteries for anyone under 18.  

The restrictions also apply to individuals who are prohibited from gambling by a court order. Contextually, back in 2025, Belarusian citizens submitted a petition calling for restrictions on the online lottery Belbet, claiming that minors could play without oversight. At the time, the Ministry of Finance said that Belbet was classified as a lottery rather than gambling.  

As a result, it was not subject to the 21+ age limit, self-exclusion rules or other protective measures. In practice, this allowed minors to gamble with real money without age verification or the ability to reclaim lost funds.  

Indeed, this new decree introduces new financial safeguards. Banks must block transactions for lottery stakes by minors and by individuals subject to legal restrictions. At the same time, it requires that lottery accounts be funded only by cashless methods, improving payment transparency. Elsewhere, the decree establishes a multi-layered protection system to prevent underage players from participating.  

From 2 February 2026, Belarusian banks began blocking certain card transactions linked to gambling on unlicensed foreign sites. They also strengthened the identification and monitoring of gambling-related payments. A special Merchant Category Code (MCC) was introduced to cover activities such as iGaming, betting, lottery and wagering on races.  

In line with this, Belarusbank has now also prohibited the use of its banking products for payments to unlicensed gambling operators.

This latest regulatory development comes following a similar age-related shift in Romania last week, where the nation's Senate also advanced new measures to raise the legal gambling age to 21 years, with online gambling advertising restrictions also being considered for further restriction.