The territorial administration of Altai has issued a statement that the first casino in the Siberian Coin Altai gaming zone will be launched before the end of the current year. Hotels are scheduled to open in 2013.

The gaming zone currently has a single investor, the Alti group from Kemerovo. The investment group plans to construct two medium-class hotels with the occupancy of 100 persons each, as well as two business class hotels.

The authorities in Altai are planning new infrastructural projects near the site of the gaming zone. The zone’s remote location requires building additional access roads. The Altaiskoye-Aya-Nizhnekayancha road and the bridge over the Katun River will be completed in 2010. The government also intends to initiate the construction of a gas pipeline with a substation located in Nizhnekayancha, which will serve as the distribution point. Gazprom reached an agreement with regional officials to include the pipeline’s construction into the company’s 2010 investment program. The pipeline’s cost has been estimated at RUR 900 million. 

The ultimate plan for the Altai Gaming Zone is to establish 15 casinos, 10 entertainment centers, and 30 hotels capable of accommodating 3 000 guests. The gaming zone project will cost RUR 30 billion. The area occupied by the buildings will be 2 000 hectares. The zone will lie in proximity to the Katun tourism and recreation area.

In other gaming news in Russia, the Oracle casino in Azov City welcomed its first visitors from Vladivostok in May 2010. The casino opened in January 2010, and has already had guests from 80 cities across Russia, according to the head of the Investment Project Department of Krasnodar krai. Before the summer of 2010, the casino had 2 000 visitors per month. The number of visitors was expected to increase to 15 000 during the vacation season. While most of the guests come from Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, casino visitors have traveled from as far away as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Tyumen, Ulan Ude, and Novocherkassk.

The project at Azov City was begun in August of 2009. The government of Krasnodar krai earmarked RUR 500 million for the first phase of infrastructural development near the gaming zone. According to the Vice Governor of Krasnodar krai Tatiana Yevsikova, the Azov City project opens new opportunities for constructing tourist and entertainment sites near the coast of the Azov Sea. Possibilities include building amusement parks, aqua parks, other casinos, gaming clubs, golf clubs, hotels, movie theaters, and restaurants.

When investors signed up for the project, regional authorities undertook to provide the infrastructure for supplying 7 megawatts of electric power, 1 500 cubic meters of water per day, in additional to 800 cubic meters of gas per hour. Special regular flights from Moscow to the airport at Yeisk were established to bring the residents from the Russian capital to the gaming zone. The government also promised the construction of a new airport, a railroad station, and a sea port. 

The gaming zone where Azov City is situated occupies 2 000 hectares. Half of the territory is being developed by the government of Krasnodar krai, and the other half by the government of the Rostov region. It is expected that the city will grow to have a permanent population of 60 000 people. The vision of the founders of Azov City is to create a modern resort that will attract 6.5 million tourists per year.

According to First Deputy Governor Alexander Remezkov, the required volume of investment to develop the Azov site will be RUR 350 billion. Government officials think that the investments will bring strong returns quickly: “Several years from now, Azov City will rival Atlantic City, Macau, and Las Vegas.” Profits from the operations at Azov City have been projected to reach USD 1.5 to 2 billion.

The plan is to construct an airport for small planes, a new rail line, a highway, and a high-voltage power line. A dam on the Azov coast will also be built. The area surrounding Azov City will be recreational.

After the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the Azov City gaming zone is the most important development project in Krasnodar krai. The federal government does not provide financing for Azov City or any other type of material assistance, as the project is considered to be primarily local. 

Russia is planning to establish four gaming zones in Kaliningrad, Altai, Primorye, and an area between Krasnodar krai and Rostov region.

The first casino to be opened in the Soviet Union was located in the Moscow Savoy Hotel. It began its operations in 1989. The casino’s clientele consisted exclusively of foreign nationals. The first casino where Russian citizens could enter was launched in 1990. Slot machine arcades opened in 1993. By the end of the 1990s, Moscow had over 200 casinos. The casino business showed exceptionally good results. In 2000, there were over 2 100 slot machine parlors and over

35 000 slot machines in various regions of the country. Most of the gaming industry (over 60 percent of slot machines) was in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Another 20 percent of the gaming industry was concentrated in big regions, including Krasnodar krai, Leningrad region, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Perm, Rostov, Stavropol, Sverdlovsk region, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, and Volgograd. The business went out of control, and many slot machines were installed illegally.  

The first limitations on the gaming industry were enacted in 2006. The law mandated that gambling facilities occupy a certain minimum area, and specified how far the gaming halls must be located from schools and government buildings. Those salons failing to comply with the minimum requirements were shut down in July of 2007.  

President Putin initiated a major reform of the gaming industry after the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia indentified major financial fraud schemes, tax evasion, as well as sanitary violations in Moscow casinos. Putin also deplored the social impact of casinos, saying that the problem with gambling addiction is just as serious as with alcoholism. The reforms introduced in 2007 provided for closing down existing gambling establishments in Russia and creating four new gaming zones. Companies in the gaming industry were to lease the land from the federal government. New gaming establishments can also be opened on the land reserved for urban and rural development pursuant to licenses issued by the local and federal authorities. Under the new law, gaming sites may be owned by Russian legal entities with assets of USD 600 million.  

In compliance with the law, casinos and slot machine salons outside the four designated gaming zones were shut down in Russia effective July 1, 2009. While the gaming industry lobbied to postpone the closure, the Russian government under President Medvedev did not yield to the pressure. As Mr. Medvedev put it, there are no social consequences in regulating the gaming business.