Online Gambling
Flourishes in Russia despite Ban
 October
7 - On Monday this week
Russian government officials expressed concerns regarding the
increase of 'surrogate' gambling technologies,
such as instant
lottery machines
and
online gambling websites,
despite a blanket ban on gambling that was passed a three months
ago in the country.
Said Moscow deputy mayor,
Sergei Baidakov, at a news conference, 'We are very concerned
about the rise of surrogate technologies, as
they are the byproduct of imperfect legislation.
However, city and federal authorities will soon
close the legal loopholes
that allow online gambling and the
unrestricted sale of lotto tickets.'
He also reported that since the ban, approximately
one third of Moscow's 525 casinos and slot game halls had
started selling instant lottery tickets,
while the number of internet cafes in the capital that actively
provide Russians with
access to online gambling sites, had risen by over 300 percent.
As of July 1, 2009, the gambling ban came into effect in Russia,
where it was confined to special zones in 'far-flung' areas.
However, judging by the deputy mayor's comments,
the ban has thus far proved fruitless,
and in fact appears to have
increased gambling activity, particularly in the Capital.
Plans for the Russian crackdown on gambling originated in 2006,
when then president,
Vladimir Putin, pledged to root out the activity he viewed as
another form of 'alcoholism'.
(This from an
ex-KGB agent,
who allegedly used his questionable connections to become an
'instant' oil and gas billionaire
and
buy his way into power).
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991,
casinos sprang up in Russia like mushrooms,
and slot machines spread beyond gaming halls to shops and even
shopping malls. In fact, by
2008 the Russian gambling industry was reported to be worth over
$3.6 billion a year,
and provided employment to over 400,000 Russians.
But now
the bright lights of casinos and slots halls are dwindling
as Moscow seems to have cleaned up it act. Those land gambling
venues -
once famous for attracting a questionable class of people
- have made way for trendy shops and restaurants, and even
fitness clubs,
that any Westerner would be proud to frequent.
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