Moldova gambling licence: no online licence

Law 291 reserves lotteries, sports betting, slot machines and gambling over electronic networks to the state company. The ASP states that no licence is issued for online gambling, betting, lotteries or slot halls, and Loteria Națională itself needs no licence. Private operators can hold only the casino licence.

• The only legal online offer is 7777.md (website, Android app and iOS app), run by the private partner NGM Company SRL for Loteria Națională under public-private partnership contract no. 1/09 of 23 April 2018, as the operator states.
• A licence from another jurisdiction does not help: the law has no article recognising a foreign gambling licence.
• The ASP publishes a list of unauthorised web pages, platforms and applications. It held 12,024 domains on the list updated 5 November 2026. Electronic-communications providers must block access on the decision of the communications regulator, ANRCETI, based on that list.
• Since 19 March 2025 payment-service providers must refuse payments to listed organisers within at most 3 working days of the notice (Law 291 art. 50/2, inserted by Law 27/2025). Providing payment services to unauthorised monopoly-type gambling is itself a violation (art. 54(2)(b/2)).
• The law lists as a violation participation in prohibited or unauthorised gambling (art. 54(2)(b/3)), but no fine for a player appears in the Contravention Code or the Criminal Code.

Laws that apply

• Law no. 291/2016 on the organisation and conduct of gambling: arts. 30-33 (casino licence), art. 43 (sports betting), art. 47 (online gambling), art. 50/1-50/2 (blocking of sites and payments), art. 53 (advertising)
• Government Decision 777/2018: model rules for the games that are a state monopoly
• Fiscal Code no. 1163/1997: company income tax (art. 15), VAT exemption (art. 103(1) pct. 14), winnings tax (art. 90/1(3/3), art. 20 lit. p/1)
• Law 308/2017 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, supervised for gambling organisers by the SPCSB
• Contravention Code no. 218/2008, art. 277/1, and Criminal Code no. 985/2002, art. 242/3

This is the only private gambling licence in Law 291, and it is land-based: the casino must have players physically present. It is not an online route. The ASP issues it on a declaration in a pre-set form (art. 31(7)).

• A casino at the legal minimum pays MDL 3,130,000 a year in licence fees in a municipality (5 tables x 600,000 + 130,000) or MDL 2,530,000 elsewhere (4 x 600,000 + 130,000). With the capital, the first-year commitment is at least MDL 8,130,000 or MDL 7,530,000.
• The casino must stand in a separate permanent building with its own entrances for visitors and staff, or in a hotel rated at least 4 stars (art. 32(1)). The premises must be owned or leased (art. 31(6) lit. c)).
• Shareholders need 5 years' experience of organising gambling in Moldova or an EU state, held by the company or by members controlling more than 50% of its capital (art. 11 lit. h)). The law sets no foreign-ownership cap.
• Licence suspension follows a payout below 70%, admitting persons under 21, or advertising of gambling; withdrawal follows non-payment of winnings, breach of anti-money-laundering procedures or tax evasion. The fee is not refunded on withdrawal, and a holder may re-apply only after 3 years (art. 31(12)-(15)).
• The ASP register of casino organisers is not published as a list, so the number of active casino licences is not public.

Law 291 has no B2B or supplier licence. No game developer, platform, aggregator, hosting, payment, identity or data vendor, or affiliate needs a licence as such. Because remote gambling is reserved to the state company, such a supplier can lawfully serve only that company.

• A producer or distributor of basic gaming means is not licensed but must declare them to the ASP for entry in the Register of basic gaming means within 15 working days (art. 17(1)). Only licence holders or applicants, the state company, and producers or their official distributors may import them (art. 17(2)).
• Basic gaming means, including the IT media that generate random elements, need a certificate of conformity (new) or an inspection certificate or report (in use) from a body accredited by the national accreditation body or an EA MLA signatory and recognised by the ASP (art. 16(1)). Changes to software must be agreed with the ASP (art. 16(3)). Slot machines need a GLI-11 certificate.
• Each game is registered by the ASP on the basis of its rules, set from the Government's model rules (art. 14).
• For online gambling, the equipment and software must be on Moldovan territory, the website must hold a domain in Moldova, and the control server must be located in Moldova (art. 47(5)).
• Marketing agencies and affiliates are not registered, but advertising outside art. 53 is a violation, and promoting or facilitating monopoly gambling run by unauthorised persons is a violation (art. 54(2)(b/1)).

Moldova levies no tax on stakes, turnover or gross gaming revenue. Law 291 art. 52(1) leaves the regime to general tax legislation, and the Fiscal Code in force from 1 January 2026 has no national operator-side gambling duty.

• The 18% winnings tax has one exemption: the part of an offline lottery or sports-betting winning that does not exceed 1% of the personal exemption. With the exemption at 29,700 lei, the threshold is 297 lei. It never applies to winnings obtained through electronic communication networks (art. 20 lit. p/1)).
• For online winnings the taxable amount is the total sum withdrawn from the game account (art. 12 pct. 14). The payer withholds the tax, remits it by the 25th of the following month, and the withholding is final (arts. 90/1(4), 92(1)).
• Winnings from promotional campaigns are taxed at 12% only on the part above the personal exemption.

Law 291 art. 53(2) bans every form of direct or indirect advertising of gambling, including online gambling and betting, with narrow exceptions added from 10 February 2025 for low-social-risk games.

• Exceptions: promotion inside the main premises of the authorised company; sponsorship by low-risk organisers; advertising by companies whose main activity is low-risk gambling, broadcast between 22:00 and 07:00; periodicals up to 15% of an issue; and lottery materials up to A4 at points of sale. Broadcast and periodical advertising must carry a negative-impact warning of at least 20% of its time or surface.
• Advertising of high-risk games, casinos and slot machines included, is a violation (art. 54(2)(h)). The Contravention Code art. 277/1(5) sets fines of 200 to 300 conventional units for a legal person (1 unit = MDL 50).
• Gambling organisers are reporting entities under Law 308/2017, supervised by the Service for Prevention and Combating Money Laundering (SPCSB).

There is no online licence to apply for. Choose the position that fits your business.

1. 01

   Check the market

   Law 291 art. 47(1)

   Online gambling is run only by Loteria Națională a Moldovei. Do not target Moldovan players from an offshore site: it is placed on the ASP list, blocked, and its payments are refused.

2. 02

   Supplier: work for the state company

   Law 291 arts. 16-17, 47(5)

   No supplier licence exists. Certify the gaming means with a recognised body, declare them to the ASP within 15 working days, and contract with the state company or its private partner.

3. 03

   Land-based operator: form a Moldovan company

   Law 291 art. 11

   Set up a resident commercial company with MDL 5,000,000 of share capital, at least 70% in cash, and meet the 5-year experience condition.

4. 04

   File the casino declaration with the ASP

   Law 291 art. 31(7)-(9)

   File the declaration in the pre-set form with the premises documents, audited statements, certificates of the gaming means and proof of the winnings guarantee. The ASP decides within 10 working days.

5. 05

   Pay the annual fee

   Law 291 art. 31(3)

   The first year's fee falls due within 10 days of the notice that the documents are approved, and each later year 10 days before the previous year ends.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 9 Nov 2026.