Legislation
Russia – Casinos could make Crimea less reliant on Moscow
By Phil - 28 March 2014
Russian politicians are reportedly considering giving gambling zone status to the politically charged region of Crimea.
News agency Bloomberg claims that four sources with ‘direct knowledge of the planning’ have confirmed that the Black Sea peninsula could be developed into a fifth casino-friendly, Russian territory following a meeting last week held by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.
Bloomberg says that Russia’s Ministries of Economy, Finance and Regional Development will now present a plan for the proposal detailing expected investment and revenue on April 15 deadline.
“Russia is seeking to make Crimea less reliant on the state budget,” Bloomberg said. “The region may run a fiscal deficit of about 55bn rubles ($1.5bn) this year, which Russia plans to fully cover, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said last week in an interview on state television.”
A spokesperson for the Deputy Prime Minister said all plans capable of boosting the economy were being considered and that they would only be made public once they had been approved.
Gambling was banned in Russia in the summer of 2009 except in the four remote zones of Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, Altai and Vladivostok. President Putin ordered that the Black Sea city of Sochi should remain a family resort following the completion of the Winter Olympics. It had been suggested that it too could become a gambling zone.
