Yaroslavl deputies advocate slot machines
The reason for the advocacy is neither a gaming lobby nor the passion of the people`s representatives for gambling. The matter is the money that can be missed by the regional budget. According to various data, the treasury may lose 56 to 140 mln rubles each half a year.
However, the pre-term closure of gambling facilities was almost real. A group of deputies of the regional Duma headed by Peter Gublchkin prepared a draft according to which casinos and slot machines might have remained in the region only till July 1st, 2007. It is the day for the federal law banning activities of slot halls with the area less than 100 sqm to come into effect. The legislation leaves it up to regional authorities to solve the gaming business issue. Should this course of event take place, only two casinos will have been left in the city. And they will have been more than enough for the city with the population of 600 000 people, the deputies believe. But in 2009 they will have been closed, too. By the way, Yaroslavl gambling addicts will have found themselves in a complicated situation. The closest gamin zone is 1500km away, in Kaliningrad.
But the economic approach predominated. The deputies counted that, gaming business banned, the budget will lose significant amount of revenues, which can be reimbursed from nowhere. And, though a part of the people`s representatives presented a disproof of this idea (it is quite real to make up for 60 mln rubles), the matter came to voting. Out of 39 deputies, only 18 voted for the gaming business ban, and 11 voted against it. The ban lacked several votes.
Be reminded that it`s another attempt of the regional Duma to solve the issue of slot machines. The deputies almost approached the business closure in June last year. Then the final ruling was put off till the autumn, and then forgotten, as a similar initiative was proposed by the Federal Assembly.
Regions.Ru