Georgia is looking to attract international iGaming operators with more than a licence. At SBC Summit, Vakhtang Katamadze outlined a proposition built around banking, gambling-coded payments, regulatory predictability and the ability to establish a sustainable operational base.
Speaking with moderator, CEO of SMH Global, Nika Gigashvili during the panel “Licensing Disruption: How Georgia Is Building the New Hometown of iGaming”, Random Systems Georgia (RSG) Supervisory Board Member Vakhtang Katamadze explained why Georgia’s international licensing initiative is intended to function as an integrated business ecosystem.
“We are not only offering licensing, but we are offering basically a whole ecosystem,” he said. “Which entails payments, which entails banking,” alongside the opportunity to relocate staff and senior management.
Earlier, Katamadze said the International iGaming License regime, soft-launched in July 2026, was developed by Random Systems to bring government, regulatory, and banking requirements together under a unified governance system.
The framework covers the international provision of online casino games, slots and sports betting, with Georgian citizens excluded from participation. Georgia International Strategic Group (GISG) began promoting the proposition internationally in September.
At the panel, however, the emphasis was less on the existence of the licence than on what operators would be able to build around it.
A central component of the proposition is access to Georgian corporate banking and payment-processing arrangements under MCC 7995, the merchant category code used for gambling transactions.
Katamadze said the payment infrastructure would offer gambling-coded transactions for countries that do not prohibit such international transactions.
For Katamadze, operators should be able to combine licensing, payments and banking with a more structured operational presence.
Katamadze also described a change in the initiative’s priorities, moving away from a focus on licence volumes.
“Initially we thought we would sell two hundred, three hundred licences,” he said. “But in the process, we realised that it’s not the number that counts. It’s the quality that counts.”
The intended audience, he explained, is tier-one operators that understand compliance, AML, KYC requirements and corporate social responsibility.
“We want to cater to those companies who can get the Georgian licence, operate with gambling merchant codes, relocate their staff, pay salaries,” he said, linking those capabilities to a more structured and sustainable business.
The message was that Georgia’s ambition is not simply to attract licence holders, but to encourage operators to commit meaningful business activity to the jurisdiction.
Regulatory predictability
Katamadze pointed to Flutter, Entain and Betsson’s involvement in Georgia’s domestic market as evidence of confidence in the country.
He argued that major listed groups would be unlikely to choose Georgia as an acquisition and expansion destination without confidence in the predictability and sustainability of its regulation.
That domestic track record supports the case for the international framework, although the new regime is designed to remain separate from Georgia’s local gambling market.
Taxation Within a Wider Ecosystem
Taxation also featured in the discussion, with Katamadze highlighting Georgia’s treatment of reinvested profits and preferential regimes for eligible entrepreneurs and technology businesses.
These were presented as elements of the wider business environment, rather than interchangeable tax terms for every international gambling operator.
Separately, the international framework’s terms include a five-year licence, a 5% tax on gross gaming revenue, a 1% regulatory monitoring fee and an annual permit fee. The proposition also includes remote onboarding and no mandatory office requirement.
While relocation forms part of the offer, Katamadze argued that operators would not need to rely exclusively on bringing in their own teams.
“With or without relocation, Georgia has enough talent to cater to those companies who would like to establish Georgia as their base of operation,” he said.
Connectivity, infrastructure and Georgia’s position between Europe and Asia were also presented as factors supporting its appeal as a location for employees and senior management.
Ultimately, Georgia’s ambition is not just to issue licences, but to become a long-term operational home for international iGaming businesses.
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