Update: Major Changes In Bulgarian Gambling Regulation

September 2024 – As we have previously reported, just a few months ago Bulgaria introduced major changes to the regulations governing organisers of gambling games and activities (including service providers connected with the gambling industry) and gambling advertisements (see the original article here). These changes have recently been further clarified with a decision of the regulator and additional proposed amendments in relevant rules. Below are some key updates:

Online advertising

A recent decision of the National Revenue Agency ("NRA") clarifies that the legislative changes were intended to restrict gambling advertisements to Bulgarian media outlets and their websites, rather than across the entire Internet. This means, for example, that social networks are more likely to fall outside the gambling advertising restrictions. However, the NRA has not definitively excluded them from the scope of the gambling advertisements ban as it indicates that a