Russian parliament to consider draft law on gambling business
President Vladimir Putin introduced today in the parliament a draft law proposing a new set of regulations for the gaming industry. If the parliament passes the law, which envisions the establishment of two types of gambling zones where gambling will be allowed, the new rules will come into effect January 1, 2009.
The owners must be Russian legal entities that have not been created by the Russian government or local authorities
The first type comprises gambling zones in residential areas. These can be established on territory allocated for urban and rural development. The federal government will issue permits to gambling establishments in these areas in coordination with local authorities. Permits will be issued for five years and will allow each organizer to set up one gambling facility per permit.
The second type comprises gambling zones established on parcels of land belonging to federal or municipal authorities not allocated for urban or rural development. These parcels will be leased to the owners of gambling business by the Russian government.
PUBLICIDAD
The draft document also outlines the requirements for owners of gambling establishments. The owners must be Russian legal entities that have not been created by the Russian government or local authorities, and whose net assets are not less than us$ 22.4 million.
All gambling businesses that do not meet the requirements proposed in the draft will be shut down after July 1, 2007. Those places that meet the requirements will be allowed to operate without special permits until January 1, 2009, when the new law comes into effect.
On top of that, the Interior Ministry launched an apparent sting operation to check the financial, tax and sanitary-epidemiological documents of a variety of gambling establishments in the capital allegedly linked to the Georgian mafia. He has shut down a third Moscow casino in an apparent crackdown on gambling businesses controlled by the mafia, a ministry official said Thursday.
An official said the Golden Palace Weekend casino, which the ministry affirmed is controlled by the same Georgian crime bosses who own the Kristal and the Golden Palace casinos, shut down on October 3-4, was closed by the ministry’s economic security department for numerous violations of the tax code.
The wave of closures of Georgian-owned casinos and restaurants in Moscow follows on the heels of a recent spying scandal between Russia and Georgia that saw the arrest of several Russian officers on espionage charges.