Putin allowed casinos to operate in Crimea and Sochi

Casinos and other games of chance are allowed on the Crimean Peninsula and in Sochi, the host of the last Winter Olympics, according to a new law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin today to boost the economy in those areas.

Thanks to this law, Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that was annexed to Russia in March and where the standard of living is lower than in the rest of Russia, will be able to attract tourists and foreign investors, said the deputies who adopted the law on July 4.

Gambling in Crimea could bring the peninsula up to 25 billion rubles (527 million euros) in annual revenue, reports the Itar-Tas agency.

"That gambling zone can achieve world status and compete with Macau, Monaco or Las Vegas," Putin said.

Sochi's inclusion in the existing gambling zone of Krasnodar in southern Russia aims to bring revenue to the city where the $50 billion Olympic Games facilities were built.

Until now, Russia had four legal gambling zones after the adoption of strict laws in 2009 on the legal regulation of games of chance.

That law allowed the construction of casinos in Azov, Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, the Russian Republic of Altai in Siberia and the Primorsky region in the Russian Far East.

Many casinos appeared in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and slot machines soon filled the halls of shopping centers. The increase in the number of casinos, as well as luxury cars parked in front of them, caused dissatisfaction among the citizens of Russia.

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