The Russian government is considering moving one of its special zones allocated for legal gambling, following the failure of Azov City due to a lack of infrastructure, Vedomosti reported on Thursday.
The paper quotes sources in the gaming business in the area who claim the local Krasnodar Region governor, Aleksander Tkachyov, wrote to President Dmitry Medvedev several weeks ago proposing to move the gambling zone to the nearby resort city of Anapa on the Black Sea coast.
Tkachyov said the move was needed as Azov City was too far from population centers and would not appeal to investors or gamblers. The president has instructed the government to study the proposal.
The then President Vladimir Putin proposed a ban on gambling except in four special zones in remote parts of Russia in October 2006, which came into force in July 2009 when he was prime minister. The four areas where gaming is permitted are Azov City on the borders of the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region, a zone in the Altai Mountains, Amber in Russia's exclave Kaliningrad Region and a zone in the Primorye Region of Russia's Far East.
"Since the law has been working it's become increasingly clear that no one wants to go to these zones, but Anapa has a modern airport, beaches and tourists," says Duma Deputy Gleb Khor of the United Russia party.
He has introduced an amendment on the gaming law bill to the Duma which envisages removing the Rostov Region from the list of approved gaming areas. In addition, his amendment proposes suspending the ban on gambling for ten years from the date it was introduced. The amendment has already been approved by the Duma Economic Policy Committee.
Vedomosti says no decision has been made on the Krasnodar governor's proposals, and neither have measures been discussed for compensating those investors who have already sunk cash into Azov City. The area is the closest to completion of the four approved gaming zones, with investors having already sunk $10 million into casinos.
"We're in shock, and we don't understand," says Aleksander Odintsov, Director of the Odis group, which has rented a 1.5 hectare site in Azov City and had plans to invest 12 billion rubles in a gambling hall there. "There have been rumors, but they've said nothing officially, although we are in continual dialogue with the authorities."
MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti)
