Interview at MyCasCom with Evgeny Kovtun.
Elena Chavez. Good afternoon, Evgeny. Congratulations on the release of your new book.
Evgeny Kovtun. Thank you.
E.C. The presentation of your new book "Legal Regulation of Gambling Business in the Former Soviet Countries" was held in London, during the Gaming Awards 2009 ceremony. Of, course, not everyone could attend this event. Please tell us, how did it go?
E.K. Yes, the presentation of my book "Legal Regulation of Gambling Business in the Former Soviet Countries", which is the first book about gambling business in Russia and former USSR countries in English, was held at the Gaming Award 2009 ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel on the 26th of January. It was published by the Responsible Gaming Fund and a company Storm International.
The presentation itself was quite modest. All the attendees of the ceremony had a chance to view the book and find out how to get a copy. The intentions of the presentations were different though. Taking into consideration, that there were top people of the gambling industry attending GA2009, we wanted to show our product and were ready to give comprehensive answers to any questions about gambling business development and gambling law in former USSR countries. The book's publishers and I, as an author, were quite happy with the event. The book was also presented at IGE 2009 exhibition at two stands - Azart magazine (Ukraine) and Casino Life magazine (Great Britain).
E.C. Please give us a few sentences to tell us what this book is about and to whom it will be especially interesting?
E.K. The book gives a full and comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of gaming activity in the former USSR's countries (Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan). It also examines the history of legal gambling regulation in the USSR and investigates current legislation. The book is written on the basis of legislative acts in force in various countries as of 1st of December 2008.
This book will be interesting to everybody who watches these markets closely. Apart from that, the first part of the book dedicated to the history of gambling regulation around the world. Here one can find many interesting and unknown facts, for example about "gambling revolution" in Mongolia.
E.C. Where can one buy your book?
E.K. Everyone who is interested can do it through the following websites: responsible.ru and casinocompendium.com.
E.C. Do you have plans publishing this book in Russian?
E.K. No, I don't plan to release this book in its original version. And I don't think any books about gambling business will be appropriate until the situation around gambling law in Russia is clear.
E.C. Let's talk a little about current development around the gambling business in Russia. As we know, according to a new law, all the casinos in Russia will be closed from 1st of July 2009 and four gaming zones will come to the force. What is expected, if the situation develops by this scenario?
E.K. If everything goes by the law, the gambling business will be left in the country only on paper. There is nowhere to move - the zones are not ready and the current economic crisis has adversely affected businesses. The profit of casinos which are still opened has dropped considerably. I'll take a risk and predict that the government will grant a delay between one and one and a half years and after this period of time will look at it more closely.
E.C. If Russian government just wants to toughen gambling law, are there any other ways to do it, not so cardinal?
E.K. Of, course, there are. But the government is not ready to examine them. Apart from the delay, there is no other way at the moment, simply because there is not enough time left. If they write a new law over a 2 week period it will not work either. Just like the last one.
E.C. When can we expect your next book?
E.K. It's difficult to say, when a new book in English or other foreign languages will be published. But I already have a new book. It was released on the 1st of February, for the first time in Russia and it's called "The history of legal regulation of games of chance in Russia". This book is dedicated to the legal regulation of gambling in Russia at different stages of the country's existence. The book is quite interesting in its historic retrospective. Its main purpose is to show what decisions regarding gambling were made in Russia and demonstrate the results of such decisions. It was proved, that cardinal solution of the problem can be showy, but cannot be effective.
E.C. Thank you for talking to us.
E.K. Thank you.
About the author:
Evgeny Kovtun
Evgeny Kovtun is a well-known publicist in the field of the legal regulation of gambling business, the author and a co-author of many books devoted to the history of gambling business and its legislative regulation. His latest books "Gambling Business in Russia: Legislative Regulation", "Legal Regulation of Gambling Business in Foreign Countries" (together with Sergey Kovalev) and "Legal regulation of Gambling Business in Ukraine and in neighboring states" (in Russian and Ukrainian) gained recognition not only in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, but also in some foreign countries. Evgeny Kovtun's articles about legal regulation of gambling business are translated into many languages of the world, including English, Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian and Lithuanian.
This intervew is exclusive to MyCasCom.com