Regulated.

According to Article 9(7) of the Law on Games of Chance: “a casino is a furnished space for organising special games of chance at tables and on gaming machines.”

According to Article 34 of the Law on Games of Chance, a licence to organise special games of chance in casinos is granted to a Serbia-registered legal entity by the government. 

“Games of chance in casinos are games that players play against the house or against one another on gaming tables with small balls, small dice, cards or other similar props, and which are organised exclusively in the area of the casino.” (Article 9(8), Law on Games of Chance)

According to Article 4(1) of the Regulation on the types of games of chance (Catalogue of the types of games of chance), special games of chance organised in casinos include:

• Blackjack.
• Roulette (American, French).
• Baccarat (chemin de fer).
• Craps.
• Poker (Draw, Caribbean Diamond, Caribbean 7 Stud, Casino Stud, Omaha, Three Card, Let It Ride).
• Hold’em (Texas, Ultimate Texas).
• Sic Bo.
• Money Wheel.
• Punto Banco.
• "Serbian-Russian Roulette").

According to Article 57 of the Law on Games of Chance, games of chance shall be organised on slot machines in casinos, subject to the provisions of Articles 58-76, and the obligation of owning or leasing at least 100 machines shall not apply.

General Licensing Information

Article 39 of the Law on Games of Chance stipulates that the licence to organise special games of chance in casinos is granted on the basis of a public invitation, organised in accordance with the procedure established by the government.

Article 35 of the Law on Games of Chance restricts the maximum number of licences granted by the government to organise games of chance in casinos to ten, where one licence refers to one casino.

A licence to organise special games of chance in casinos in Serbia is granted to a Serbia-registered legal entity only if the legal entity or its majority founder has participated in at least one casino and has been organising games of chance in casinos for at least five years (Article 34, Law on Games of Chance).

A casino licence is valid for a period of ten years, and shall be renewed by a decision of the government for a period of ten years, upon the fulfilment of all conditions prescribed by the law and a payment of €1m. The licensee shall apply for a renewal no later than six months before the expiry of the licence. (Article 40, Law on Games of Chance)

According to Article 36 of the Law on Games of Chance, a casino licence is issued to a capital company registered in the Republic of Serbia, with a minimum paid-up share capital of €1m in the Serbian dinar (RSD) equivalent, which must be maintained throughout the validity of the licence.

To ensure payment of winnings and settlement of other financial obligations, Article 38 of the Law on Games of Chance mandates a casino licensee to maintain a minimum bank deposit or a bank guarantee of €300,000 in RSD equivalent in a bank registered in Serbia or a bank guarantee of the same amount per casino, throughout the validity of the licence; and a minimum daily risk deposit of €50,000 in RSD equivalent. 

According to Article 39(8) of the Law on Games of Chance, an applicant for a casino licence must obtain from the competent state body confirmation that they have not been sentenced to a fine (if a legal entity) or imprisonment (natural person) for a criminal offence in the Republic of Serbia or a foreign country and that they have not violated repeatedly anti-money laundering regulations during a period when the organisation of an activity or the holding of a position had been restricted as a punitive measure . If for valid reasons such confirmation is not possible, the person may make a declaration under oath that they have not been convicted of a criminal offence and are not a member of a criminal group (Article 39(9) of the Law on Games of Chance).

A casino must organise a mimum of 15 table games (Article 49, Law on Games of Chance)

Licensing Costs

According to Article 39 of the Law on Games of Chance, the licence fee offered during the public invitation must be at least €1m in RSD equivalent.

According to Article 40 of the Law on Games of Chance, the casino licence renewal fee is €1m.

Detailed information about the casino licensing process and requirements, including location requirements, can be found in Part II, Chapter 3 (Special Games of Chance in Casinos) of the Law on Games of Chance. 

According to Article 54 of the Law on Games of Chance, the tax for casino games is set at 25 percent of:

• Gross gaming revenue (difference between the registration fee and the prize fund, but not less than 5 percent of the total registration fees) in case of a tournament.
• Turnover (the value of the total stakes received) in case of games where players compete against each other (such as poker, chemin de fer, etc).
• Gross gaming revenue for games played against the house.

Article 54 of the law further details that the value of the received stakes may be reduced by a maximum of 2 percent of the total value of the promotional chips. Additionally, the value of a promotional chip cannot exceed four times the value of the lowest denomination chip for playing at gaming tables in the casino. 

The minimum monthly fee for organising special games of chance in casinos, cannot be lower than the product of the amount of €2,000 and the highest number of registered tables for games against the casino during the month (Article 54, Law on Games of Chance).