The four special zones for setting up new gambling locations have been chosen by the Russian Duma.
The Committee on Economic Policy has recommended approval of the second reading of the amendments to the country’s new gambling bill. The locations are Kaliningrad, the Altai Republic, the Maritime territory and a location on the borders of the Rostov region and the Krasnodar territory.
The Duma approved the first reading of the Presidential bill on November 15. It has ruled that there will be two types of gambling zones: ‘residential’ and ‘special’. In the case of the former, a casino would be of at least 800sq.m plus 100sq.m for slot machines, while in ‘special’ gambling zones, casinos would have to be located outside of residential areas.
A special licence would be required for a gambling establishment and it would be valid for five years. They will be issued only to Russian companies with assets of at least RUB600m. Any that do not comply with the gambling zone locations, dimensions or investment values, will close by July 1, 2007.
The effect of the changes is that all small- and medium-sized gaming businesses in Russia will be closed between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2009, or will have to move into the four federal gaming zones after July 1.
The location of the new zones will not be popular with operators. Kaliningrad is in European Russia, whereas the Altai Republic is in central Siberia. Krasnodar-Rostov is close to the Crimea near the Black Sea in the south. The fourth zone is on the Chinese-Russian border, nearly two hours by plane from Japan.
The new bill forbids internet gambling, will not allow the leasing of gaming equipment, and requires that the minimum number of table games for each casino will be 10. The minimum number of slots per casino is 50, and payouts should be not less than 90 per cent.
