Uzbekistan issued its first bookmaker licences on July 31, 2026 — ending 18 months in which the legal market existed only on paper. Olimpbet and Aurum Vale received the first licences. Offshore brands still hold 65% of measurable demand, with monthly CEB growing 64% year-over-year to $25.5M.
Olimpbet received licenses ITO No. 001 and BF No. 001 for olimpbet.uz, while Aurum Vale received the No. 002 licenses for oltinbet.uz. Both pairs are valid until July 30, 2031.
This is Uzbekistan’s second attempt at legalizing betting — the first decree came in December 2019 as part of a football development program and permitted bookmaking from January 1, 2021, but the legal framework behind it was never built. In April 2022, the decree was cancelled outright.
Olimpbet’s Uzbek legal entity was registered right around that time, on June 2, 2021: the company waited nearly five years for a license, living through the first failed legalization attempt before the second one delivered.
Uzbekistan betting market reacts: Blask Index jumped fivefold on July 31
Betting and online games have technically been legal in the country since January 1, 2025, but the market waited another year and a half for its first licensees. The minimum charter capital for bookmakers was set at 56.25B soums, about $4.3M.
Uzbekistan is Olimpbet’s third regulated market after Russia and Kazakhstan. The Kazakh operation is run by NetBet LLP, which remains the betting industry’s largest taxpayer, accounting for 56% of total sector tax payments, or more than KZT 37B in 2024, according to local business media.
Demand reacted instantly to the arrival of licensed operators. Uzbekistan’s daily Blask Index jumped more than fivefold above its normal level on July 31, the same day NAPP registered the first licenses.
Uzbekistan iGaming offshore market: 65% demand held by unlicensed brands
The whole time, the regulator was actively fighting gambling advertising: since the start of 2025, the country has blocked about 70 sites promoting offshore bookmakers, and fined four bloggers over Melbet ads in the summer of 2026.
While the licensed market existed only on paper, the largest international operators had time to entrench themselves and capture most of the demand: the five largest offshore brands, 1xBet, Jojobet, Mostbet, 1win and HoliganBet, controlled nearly 65% of measurable demand.
Blask estimates Uzbekistan’s offshore CEB segment grew to $25.5M a month by July 2026, up nearly 64% year-over-year and 88% since legalization began in January 2025. All of that growth, right up to the moment the first license was issued, went to brands without an Uzbek license.
Olimpbet and Aurum Vale will have to compete with offshore brands that have shaped the Uzbek market for a year and a half.
Blask tracks Uzbekistan’s licensed and offshore market demand in real time — including which brands are gaining share after the first licences were issued. Book a demo → blask.com/book-a-demo
FAQ
Who received the first bookmaker licenses in Uzbekistan?
On July 31, 2026, NAPP issued the first licenses to Olimpbet (olimpbet.uz) and Aurum Vale (oltinbet.uz). Each company received two licenses, one for bookmaking and one for organizing risk-based internet games, both valid for five years, until July 30, 2031.
When did Uzbekistan legalize sports betting?
A presidential decree legalized bookmaking and online games from January 1, 2025. The regulator issued the first licenses only a year and a half later, on July 31, 2026. The delay is linked to a high entry bar: the minimum charter capital for license applicants is about $4.3M.
Was this Uzbekistan’s first attempt to legalize betting?
No, it’s the second. The first decree came in December 2019 and permitted bookmaking from January 1, 2021, but the legal framework behind it was never finished, and the decree was cancelled in April 2022. A second decree, adopted in April 2024, carried legalization through: the market opened on January 1, 2025, and the first license was issued on July 31, 2026.
What share of the market do offshore brands still hold in Uzbekistan?
According to Blask, three of the largest offshore brands, 1xBet, Jojobet and Mostbet, together hold more than half of demand in Uzbekistan. The vast majority of operators Blask tracks in the country still run without a local license.