Russia’s Putin Moves to Restrict Gambling to Unpopulated Areas
President Vladimir Putin has proposed a bill restricting the flourishing gambling business in Russia to four sparsely populated territories, news agencies report.
“The approach will change fundamentally. Plans are to assign no more than four restricted territories where gambling would be allowed,” Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov was quoted by Interfax as saying after a Kremlin meeting between the president and heads of Duma factions on Wednesday.
Gryzlov said that two areas would be assigned in European Russia, one in Siberia and one in the Far East. These areas are supposed to be uninhabited, he said.
“At present, territories free from residents are offered,” he was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.
“These will be new areas in the flatlands, in the woods,” Vice Speaker from the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky added.
During the meeting with the lawmakers, Putin expressed the hope for the soonest approval of the amendments to the law on gambling: “I’m hoping Duma lawmakers will finalize the bill and approve it in the nearest future. It should fundamentally change the situation in this sphere.”
The president noted that “police had zeroed in on a number of entertainment and gambling centers.”
“It is another reason to address the problem on the whole,” the head of the state said.
This, as does the alcoholization of the population, causes serious moral and often material damage to the Russians, he said.