In July 2009, following the closure of the country’s casinos, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged that the authorities would block all attempts by gambling businesses to keep operating by going underground or remaining open under the guise of other activities. It is now widely accepted that illegal gambling is alive and well in Russia and that the four designated gambling zones are not a success story. Even before the casinos closed it was recognised that the gambling zones would take four to five years to establish but now, eighteen months later, it seems that the bid to bring a new industry to the four economically deprived areas is far from progressing.

One casino was opened a year ago in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. However, in August last year it became clear that plans were being prepared to move that zone to the resort city of Anapa on the Black Sea. By November a law was approved allowing the relocation of the one functioning gambling zone closer to a tourist destination. At least Anapa is accessible year round and its yellow sandy beaches lend themselves to the casino resort development already planned by the local authorities. ‘Golden Sands’ is expected to have a Russian-style theme park, hotels, shopping malls and restaurants.

Krasnodar Deputy Governor Aleksey Agafonov wants stricter penalties for illegal gambling operators. He says that the illegal trade will inhibit the success of the legal casinos and that so far many such illegal operators escape serious sanctions by disguising their businesses as lottery clubs and Internet cafés. Police raids on gambling locations continue throughout Russia but the illegal business is so lucrative that it shows no signs of being dismantled any time soon.

A week ago the Moscow police raided an illegal casino in a hotel opposite the Russian Foreign Ministry building. RIA Novosti quotes a police spokesman as saying 13 poker tables, 4 roulette wheels, 17 slot machines, 50,000 gambling chips and 2,000 decks of cards were seized. As many as 80 staff and gamblers were arrested. Such raids have been carried out thousands of times since the legal casinos were closed on 1 July 2009. In an interview with the BBC in February last year, a senior police officer blamed corruption as one of the main reasons that the fight against illegal gambling has been largely unsuccessful.

In November 2010 President Medvedev called for more raids and sterner penalties, telling Moscow City Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to take the necessary measures to find those in violation of the law so that they could be sent to prison and the clandestine gambling sites closed. So, since the enactment of the law that made gambling illegal outside the four designated zones, so far the only winners have been the criminal fraternity and corrupt police officers. In the meantime, the government is proposing to target online gambling in a bill that would make players culpable as well as operators. (E-01.14.11)

© Copyright 2011 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage