Belarus Moves Gambling Outdoor Ad Plan From Daytime Limit to Full Ban
Belarus has tightened the disclosed version of its gambling advertising proposal. A daytime restriction described earlier this month has now become a planned full ban on outdoor gambling ads.
Yulia Khvalyuk, a consultant at the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, or MART, said the bill would introduce a “full ban” on outdoor advertising for gambling venues, including virtual venues and gambling activities. The proposal is still being coordinated with government bodies, according to the September 21 STV report.
Signs are identified as an exception. The full legislative text has not been published.
Nine Hours of Outdoor Advertising Disappear
That is stricter than the version disclosed two weeks earlier. On September 7, MP Anzhelina Syromyatnikova said outdoor gambling advertising would be prohibited from 07:00 to 22:00, apart from signs for gambling establishments. Her description of the proposal still left an overnight advertising window.
That window covered nine hours per day, from 22:00 until 07:00. Under MART’s latest description, it disappears.
15M covered the earlier version on September 9, including the proposed warning requirement, bonus restrictions and limits on gambling creatives. Those elements are not new in the September 21 disclosure, but the outdoor change is.
The Draft Predates the September Gambling Review
There is another difference in the timeline. MART had already announced amendments to the advertising law. Its August notice listed proposed restrictions on internet advertising and advertising in vehicles, along with bans on people and animals in gambling creatives and references to betting bonuses.
The ministry said at the time that the draft had already been sent for coordination. The latest MART comments came after Belarusian authorities again reviewed gambling advertising in September. The timeline therefore points to a tougher version of an existing proposal rather than a completely new advertising bill.
The disclosed restrictions now cover several acquisition channels:
- internet advertising, with exceptions still to be defined;
- outdoor advertising, now described as a full ban;
- advertising in and on vehicles;
- bonus-led advertising;
- creatives using people or animals;
- tighter television and radio hours.
Gambling ads would also have to warn that winning is not guaranteed and that participation carries a risk of financial loss.
Bill Not Published
The draft is still under coordination. Start date has not been announced, and the bill itself is not public.
Reports differ on how stops, stations, residential buildings, shops and shopping centres are treated. The outdoor change is clearer: September 7 left 22:00-07:00 open, but MART’s September 21 wording does not.