Législation

Russie – La Douma conclut un accord sur les zones de jeux de Crimée et de Sotchi

The State Duma in Russia has signed off a bill to develop two more gambling zones in Crimea and Sochi in order to bring investment and more tourists to the regions.

Anatoly Karpov, the First Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee, said: “The creation of a gambling zone in Crimea will attract additional investment to the region, create jobs and improve the tax base. An increase in tourism as well as the development of hotel businesses and catering can be expected.”
The locations of the zones will be chosen by local government. In Crimea, the zone is expected to generate some US$720m of revenue with investment pitched at between $100m to $1bn. The most likely location for the Crimea gambling zone is most likely to be in Yalta, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Head of the Crimean government. Yalta is a holiday resort on the north coast of the Black Sea in the Crimean peninsula.

The bill, which has now completed its second reading, has also given the green light for a gambling zone in Sochi with the most likely location being Gornaya Karusel which is part of the Esto-Sadok Krasnaya Polyana resort. Gambling was outlawed in Russia in 2009 apart from in the Altai, Krasnodar, Primorye and the Kaliningrad regions.

Global Market Advisors (GMA) believes the Russian market would eventually generate eight per cent of the world’s gaming revenue. It believes China will account for 57 per cent, Korea 22 per cent and Japan 13 per cent. The analyst believes the Vladivostok gambling zone will reach $1.2bn after three years of operation, and $5.2bn after a decade, making it one of the top four gaming destinations in the world, trailing Macau, Las Vegas, and Singapore.

Le secteur des casinos en Russie avait atteint des revenus d'environ 9 milliards de dollars en 2009, avant que le gouvernement ne ferme le secteur presque du jour au lendemain et n'introduise les casinos dans les zones de jeux. Dean Macomber, président de Macomber International, a récemment déclaré que Vladivostok était un « casino régional asiatique qui se trouve en Russie ».

Melco Crown Entertainment will open Vladivostok’s casino resort first later this year with an $110m project with 60 gaming tables, 800 slots and110 hotel rooms although it will eventually boast a further 100 more VIP tables and another 600 slots.

NagaCorp dépensera 350 millions de dollars pour construire un hôtel-casino doté de 100 tables et 500 machines à sous, même si son ouverture est probable jusqu'en 2018.

Vladivostok a été la première zone de jeu russe à attirer de grands opérateurs internationaux. Reste à savoir si les dernières zones de Crimée et de Sotchi feront de même.