Kyrgyzstan Lawmaker Moves to Extend Gambling Promotion Ban to Celebrities and Public Figures

A lawmaker in Kyrgyzstan wants to widen the net on who can be held responsible for promoting online casinos.

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In a meeting of the Committee on Finance, Budget, Entrepreneurship and Development of Competition today, Deputy Burul Amanova of the Jogorku Kenesh proposed extending liability beyond bloggers to include public figures and artists.

She pointed out that while the bill does toughen punishment for bloggers who advertise online casinos, such ads do not come from bloggers alone. Public figures and artists run them too.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Commerce Benazir Nurlanova responded that the focus is not on online casinos at all, saying binary options will be completely banned. “Bloggers are mentioned because the ban will apply to everyone who goes to the media, whoever it is. The ban applies to everyone,” Nurlanova said, according to local media outlet Tazabek.

Amanova countered that only bloggers appear in the text of the bill, with no other categories named. She proposed adding public figures and artists to the document 

Kyrgyzstan continues to push for safer gambling reforms

Kyrgyzstan’s gambling laws have shifted a lot in recent years. In 2022, the legislature voted to bring back land-based gambling and allow online casinos for the first time since a 2011 ban. The catch was that all offerings would only be available to foreign players.

President Sadyr Japarov pointed to some economic benefits from that decision, though concerns remain that web platforms keep reaching local people despite the limits.

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This year has brought several reform proposals, with June 2026 standing out. Parliamentarian Saltanat Amanova put forward a plan to create a national online casino registry. Her proposal came amid growing worries about gambling-related debt, with lawmakers citing reports of people losing large sums through online betting and casino platforms.

Under the plan, all online gambling organisations would have to register with government bodies, while unregistered companies would face limits on marketing their services through commercials and promotions.

The industry’s numbers have also been in focus. Data from the Ministry of Finance put gambling tax income at KGS443 million, or $5.07 million, for January to August 2026. Physical casinos carried almost the whole load, generating KGS422.7 million.

Slot machines and simulators came in second with KGS13.9 million, about $158,000. Sports betting and bookmakers added KGS4 million, or roughly $45,000, while online and virtual casinos brought in KGS2.8 million, around $32,000.

Kyrgyzstan also recently set up the Association of the Gaming and Entertainment Industry to represent licensed operators across physical casinos, slot machines, betting, and online casino services.

Image credit: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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