Bulgaria Gaming Licence Requirements 2026: Full Guide
Bulgaria gaming licence requirements start with a locally incorporated company, a set level of paid-up share capital, and a clean fit-and-proper review of every owner. The National Revenue Agency (NRA) runs that review. Bulgaria is an EU member state, so its licence carries the standing of an EU regulator. This guide sets out who can apply and the capital and local-investment thresholds. It also covers the technical and corporate conditions, the full cost of entry, and why the NRA turns applications down.
Key facts
- Regulator: National Revenue Agency (NRA), which took over gambling licensing in Bulgaria in 2020
- Minimum paid-up capital: BGN 1,500,000 (about EUR 767,000) for online casino; BGN 50,000 (about EUR 25,600) for betting
- Local investment: at least BGN 1,000,000 in Bulgaria within six months of licensing
- Licence term: 5 years as standard, up to 10 years where higher investment applies
- Processing: the NRA decides a complete application within about 60 days, extendable by up to 30 days
- Scope: a Bulgarian licence covers the Bulgarian market only and does not grant access to other EU states
Bulgaria abolished the old State Commission on Gambling in 2020 and moved licensing, supervision, and tax collection under one body. So the National Revenue Agency is now the single authority you deal with. If you plan to hold a Bulgaria gaming licence, treat the requirements below as live conditions. The regulator checks them at the start and keeps checking them for the life of the licence.
Who can apply for a Bulgaria gaming licence
You apply as a company, not as an individual. The applicant must be a capital company registered in Bulgaria or in another EU or EEA state. It must also meet the capital and substance rules before the NRA will grant a licence. Sole traders cannot hold a Bulgarian gambling licence.
The framework separates operators by product. An online casino applicant faces the highest capital bar. A betting, lottery, or bingo applicant faces a lower one. Because each product carries its own conditions, confirm which category your platform falls under before you budget. Company formation is usually the first step, and our team handles the iGaming corporate setup that a Bulgarian application needs.
White-label operators ask a common question here. If a brand launches under another licensee’s structure, the licensee holds the licence and the regulatory duty. A brand that wants its own B2C licence must establish its own entity and meet the capital requirement in its own right. The NRA does not license a marketing brand on its own.
Bulgaria gaming licence requirements at a glance
The Bulgaria gaming licence requirements fall into four groups: corporate, financial, technical, and personal. They sit in the Bulgarian Gambling Act, which the NRA administers. The table below sets out the core items the NRA checks. Each one is a pass-or-fail gate, so a strong file addresses all of them before submission rather than one at a time.
| Requirement | Condition |
|---|---|
| Applicant type | Capital company registered in Bulgaria, the EU, or the EEA |
| Paid-up capital (online casino) | BGN 1,500,000 (about EUR 767,000) |
| Paid-up capital (betting, lottery, bingo) | BGN 50,000 (about EUR 25,600) |
| Local investment | At least BGN 1,000,000 in Bulgaria within six months of licensing |
| Bank guarantee | Mandatory, sized against tax and player liabilities |
| Technical link | Local safe server feeding data to the NRA in real time |
| Owners and directors | Fit-and-proper checks, clean criminal records, source of funds |
Share capital and the BGN 1,000,000 local investment
The capital rule is the first hard number. An online casino operator needs BGN 1,500,000 in paid-up share capital, which is roughly EUR 767,000. A betting, lottery, or bingo operator needs BGN 50,000. This capital must be paid in, not merely authorised, and the NRA verifies it during the review.
On top of the capital sits a separate local-investment duty. Within six months of receiving the licence, you must invest at least BGN 1,000,000 in Bulgaria. Most competitor guides state the figure and stop there. The practical question is what counts toward it, and that is where operators get caught.
The NRA ties this investment to real local business activity. So the safe reading is that fixed local substance qualifies: server hardware, office premises, and Bulgarian staff. Whether softer costs count, such as platform software licensing or marketing spend, is not published as a clear list. Because the answer shapes your six-month plan, confirm the eligible categories with the NRA in writing before you commit the money. At the six-month mark, the regulator can ask for evidence that the investment produced real substance rather than a paper entry.
Corporate structure and fit-and-proper checks
The NRA vets the people behind the company, not just the company. Shareholders, directors, and ultimate beneficial owners all face fit-and-proper checks. Each must provide a clean criminal record, identity documents, and evidence of the source of the funds invested.
Two structural questions come up often. First, operators ask which ownership level triggers a personal disclosure. The prudent approach is to document every beneficial owner above the standard reporting threshold. Confirm the exact percentage with the NRA, because a missed owner stalls the file. Then there is the parent-company question. A listed company, a fund, or a passive institutional investor can sit in the chain. The NRA still needs to trace control, so plan extra time to document that structure.
A transparent ownership chart is the single best thing you can bring to the review. If the regulator cannot see who controls and funds the operator, it does not grant the licence. Our team manages this vetting for applicants through ongoing compliance management, which keeps the personal files current for renewal as well.
Technical and server requirements
Bulgaria runs a real-time supervision model. Every online operator must store player records, transaction logs, betting history, and payout data on local storage in Bulgaria. It must also feed that data to the NRA’s monitoring systems as it happens. This is the technical core of the licence.
The frequent architecture question is whether the primary server must physically sit in Bulgaria. In practice, many operators run their main platform elsewhere in the EU. They then place a local control server, often called a safe server or mirror server, inside Bulgaria for the NRA link. The NRA has not published a single fixed specification for that connection in plain terms. So agree the API, data format, and latency conditions with the regulator and your technical provider before go-live.
The games themselves must be certified. You need approved random number generation and independent test-lab reports for the platform and its content. Accredited labs such as GLI or BMM carry out this testing, and each material software change can trigger recertification. Build that testing time and cost into the launch plan, because a platform cannot go live on unverified software.
The bank guarantee and the full cost of entry
A bank guarantee is mandatory. It secures the operator’s tax liabilities and player payouts, and the NRA can call on it if the operator defaults. The exact formula and any minimum floor are not published as a single public figure. So confirm the required amount, and check whether an EU-issued guarantee is accepted, rather than assuming a number.
The headline fees are only part of the budget. The real cost of a Bulgarian licence combines state fees, capital, the local investment, the guarantee, and the professional work to prepare the file. The table below sets out the confirmed cost drivers. Where the NRA has not published a fixed figure, the honest answer is to confirm the current tariff before you commit.
| Cost item | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| State application fee | EUR 5,000 to 20,000 | Varies by product; confirm current tariff |
| Annual licence fee | BGN 400,000 (about EUR 200,000) | Online betting, lotto, and bingo; confirm the casino tariff |
| Paid-up capital | BGN 1,500,000 / BGN 50,000 | Casino / betting; paid in, not just authorised |
| Local investment | BGN 1,000,000 | Within six months of licensing |
| Bank guarantee | Variable | Sized against tax and player liabilities; confirm with the NRA |
| Local server and hosting | Variable | Local data storage and the NRA safe-server link |
| Testing and certification | EUR 10,000 to 50,000+ | Platform, RNG, and per-change recertification |
| Legal and incorporation | EUR 3,000 to 15,000 | Company setup and application drafting |
Gambling tax and corporate tax sit on top of this once you operate. Online betting, lotto, and bingo carry a 20 percent tax on gross gaming revenue, alongside a 10 percent corporate income tax on profit. Because tax treatment shifts with product and reform, treat those rates as the current position and verify them at budget time.
Documents and the application timeline
The NRA works from a defined document set. A complete file usually includes the items below, and a gap in any one of them adds weeks to the review.
- Certificate of incorporation and constitutional documents for the applicant
- Proof of paid-up share capital at the required level
- Identity, criminal record, and source-of-funds evidence for owners and directors
- The bank guarantee and confirmation of the local investment plan
- Technical documentation and test-lab certificates for the platform and games
- AML and responsible-gambling policies and internal control rules
Once the file is complete, the NRA decides within about 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension and a short window to issue the decision. That covers the regulator’s review only. Company formation, bank onboarding, and lab testing run before it, so the real project runs longer than the statutory clock suggests. The application timeline maps those stages in detail, and the same document set feeds the later licence renewal review.
Common reasons the NRA refuses an application
Most refusals trace back to a small set of issues. Knowing them early is what keeps a file on schedule. The NRA can decline an application where it finds any of the following.
- An opaque ownership chain, or a beneficial owner the file does not fully declare
- A criminal record or an unresolved regulatory history for an owner or director
- Unpaid taxes or unexplained source of funds
- Share capital that is not paid in at the required level
- A technical platform that fails certification or cannot meet the real-time link
The pattern is consistent. Clean paperwork and a traceable structure pass. Gaps and unexplained figures stall. So the fix is to meet the Bulgaria gaming licence requirements in full before submission rather than to answer questions after the NRA raises them.
What a Bulgaria gaming licence does not cover
A Bulgarian licence authorises the Bulgarian market. It does not grant access to other EU states. Each EU market that regulates online gambling in the EU requires its own local licence. So an operator targeting several countries needs a licence in each of them. This is a regulatory fact, not a mark against the jurisdiction.
The licence also sits inside strict advertising rules. Bulgaria tightened gambling advertising in 2024, and the definition of a prohibited message is broad. If your plan relies on affiliate or paid promotion, review the current position first, because the rules affect how you can market a licensed brand. Our guide to the advertising restrictions sets out what changed. For operators weighing Bulgaria against an EU base such as a Malta MGA licence, the right route depends on your target markets, product, and budget. Book a consultation with our team to map the Bulgaria gaming licence requirements to your plan before you commit capital.
Frequently asked questions
Who regulates gambling licences in Bulgaria?
The National Revenue Agency regulates gambling in Bulgaria. It took over licensing, supervision, and tax collection in 2020 when the State Commission on Gambling was abolished. Any older guide naming the State Commission describes a body that no longer issues licences.
How much share capital do you need for a Bulgaria gaming licence?
An online casino operator needs BGN 1,500,000 in paid-up share capital, which is about EUR 767,000. A betting, lottery, or bingo operator needs BGN 50,000. The capital must be paid in and verified during the review.
What is the BGN 1,000,000 local investment rule?
A licensed operator must invest at least BGN 1,000,000 in Bulgaria within six months of receiving the licence, tied to real local business activity. Confirm which costs qualify with the NRA before you commit, since the eligible categories are not published as a fixed list.
Does a Bulgaria gaming licence give access to other EU markets?
No. A Bulgarian licence covers the Bulgarian market only. Each EU state that regulates online gambling requires its own local licence, so a multi-market operator needs a separate licence in each country.
How long does it take to get a Bulgaria gaming licence?
The NRA decides a complete application within about 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension and a short window to issue the decision. Company formation, bank onboarding, and lab testing run before that, so plan for a longer project.
Can you run the platform on servers outside Bulgaria?
Many operators host the main platform elsewhere in the EU and place a local safe server in Bulgaria for the real-time NRA link. Player and transaction data must be stored locally and fed to the regulator as it happens. Confirm the exact technical conditions with the NRA and your provider before go-live.
How long is a Bulgarian gambling licence valid?
The standard term is five years, and it can extend to ten years where higher investment thresholds apply. The licence does not renew automatically. You keep the right to operate by filing a fresh application with the NRA before the term ends.