2009 was a turning point for the domestic gaming industry. From July 1, all activities related to the organization and conduct of gambling became possible only in special gambling zones on the territory of four constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Kaliningrad region and Altai, Krasnodar and Primorsky territories). For fourteen years, representatives of this market segment have learned to live by the new rules. Let’s try to figure out what principles the Russian game industry currently operates on.
Since the 90s of the last century, the gambling market has been actively developing in Russia. This state of affairs was facilitated by the ease of obtaining gambling licenses and the benevolent attitude towards the actors of this sector of the economy on the part of the local authorities, who at the time were responsible for the placement of the facilities. It should be noted that, according to experts, in 2005 the financial turnover of the gambling industry in the Russian Federation reached 5-6 billion dollars, there were about 400 thousand slot machines and 5,000 gaming tables in the country, most of which were located in Moscow, Moscow region and St. Petersburg.
Over time, in the ruling circles of the state, the position is increasingly expressed that certain restrictions should be imposed on the gambling industry in the country. This position is formed due to a number of socio-social (the widespread “gambling addiction” in Russia) and economic (a large number of semi-legal and illegal gambling establishments) reasons. In 2006, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin made a proposal to solve the urgent problems in the gambling industry, which consisted in creating a new mechanism for state regulation of activities related to the organization and to conduct games of chance. The result was a new federal law passed at the end of the calendar year, which completely changed the situation in this market segment.
Thus, since 2009, gambling activity has been completely prohibited on the territory of the state, with the exception of five specially organized gambling zones in the Altai, Krasnodar and Primorsky territories, as well as in the Kaliningrad region. In 2014, the Republic of Crimea was added to the list of such regions. Along with this, massive inspections of representatives of the gambling industry began throughout the country, in many cases the fact of the lack of a license to organize and conduct gambling has been established. So, many Russians still remember the sensational “Moscow region casino case”, which ended in a major official conflict between the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation.
The first major changes associated with the adoption of the new law can be associated with the construction of the Azov-City gambling area in the Krasnodar Territory. The estimated investment in the implementation of this project was estimated at 80 billion rubles. In 2010, the opening of the first casino, the Oracle, was announced. However, already in 2015, a decision was made to liquidate the appeared objects, the reason for this was the creation of the Krasnaya Polyana game zone in Sochi, and one of the provisions of the new law prohibited the existence of two play areas on the territory of a subject. On December 31, 2018, the city of Azov ceased to exist. During its operation, the country’s first gaming zone brought only 1.2 billion rubles to the regional budget.
In 2014, the first casino was opened as part of the Siberian Coin gaming zone in the Altai Territory. At present, this game area is developing steadily, increasing the number of visitors and showing a good performance in terms of the number of area treasure tax collections. In 2018, residents of the gaming zone paid more than 62 million rubles in taxes to the budget.
A year later, the Crystal Tiger casino in the Primorsky Territory opened its doors to visitors, becoming the first object of the Primorye gambling zone. A feature of this area is its orientation towards visitors from neighboring countries (Japan, China). Confirmation of this fact is the conclusion of contracts with investors from the countries of Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the latest geopolitical events in the world indicate that in the very near future the vector of development of this gambling area may change drastically.
In 2016, the first object of the Yantarnaya game zone in the Kaliningrad region was put into operation. The history of its appearance is associated with difficulties in construction and problems with finding potential investors. The total volume of investments in the integrated development of the entire territory until 2029 is estimated at 45 billion rubles.
One of the most popular game areas in Russia among gamers is undoubtedly Krasnaya Polyana, which has already been mentioned above. The first casino on the territory of the zone was opened in 2017, the holding of the Winter Olympics in Sochi contributed to the further development of the territory. Already at the end of 2019, the amount of tax deductions to the budget of the Krasnodar Territory amounted to more than 2.5 billion rubles, which exceeded the expectations of many experts.
In 2022, the construction of a casino began on the territory of the Golden Coast gambling zone in Crimea. Economic expectations from the implementation of this project amount to 25 billion rubles in the form of budget revenue per year.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the gambling business for the Russian Federation combines enormous opportunities for obtaining tax revenue and an abundance of moral, social and political dilemmas. According to experts, before the adoption of the law on the creation of gambling zones in the country, casinos brought to the Russian budget about 380 billion rubles in taxes a year. Currently, this figure is only 1.5 billion rubles. In this regard, we can conclude that many representatives of the market have simply gone underground, which is why the budget of the Russian Federation misses a significant part of tax revenue. The opposite side of the issue lies in the moral and ethical problems associated with gambling. Many people are unable to control themselves during gambling, finding themselves in a difficult financial situation, which ultimately leads to negative social phenomena (alcoholism, drug addiction and crime).
The most important thing is that in this situation, the country’s authorities can find a “happy medium” between restrictive measures and access to gambling for the conscious part of the country’s population. Taking into account the opinions of all interested parties will save money for the Russian budget without creating additional social tension in society.
Author: Viktor Anufriev
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