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Given the history of Russia, it is perhaps not surprising that it was only
after with the fall of Communism and the embrace of 'glasnost' in the late 1980s
that Russians were finally free to gamble. Or rather, anti-gambling laws were no
longer being enforced by the government, opening the way for a 'new gambling
order.'
Like children once forbidden to eat sweets, but now given the keys to a sweet
shop, so Russians took to gambling like olives to a vodka martini. Gambling
became the new 'gold rush' in Russia, with unregulated online casinos and
gambling halls sprouting up like wild mushrooms, generating billions of rubles
in revenues.
But the bubble had to burst and it started to in 2006 when current Russian
President, Vladimir Putin, decided to clean up his beloved Moscow by ridding it
of dozens of casinos and thousands of small gambling dens. He did not ban
gambling outright, just shifted it out of the capital to four remote areas of
Russia.
Surprisingly the Russian public did not seem to mind this move, although there
is little doubt that the affected casino owners and operators would have been
put out by a stop to their revenues. Putin did, however, allow bookmakers to
continue to operate in Moscow provided they had a valid government issued
license.
With regards to online gambling, it, like in many other countries in the world,
is still something of a 'gray area.' Currently there is no online gambling
legislation or licensing or regulatory infrastructure in Russia, which means
if Russians want to gamble online, they must visit offshore-owned and operated
websites.
Quick to evolve, most reputable online gambling operators offer Russian versions
of their casinos and for good reason. According to financial analysts, revenues
generated by Russian online gamblers in 2008 exceeded $3.6 billion. However,
that figure may drop in coming years due to loopholes in Russian law.
Apparently a law signed by Putin himself in 2003 has a loophole whereby any
private Russian company can run a land or electronic lottery business, subject
to being granted a license and being taxed. So with more gambling opportunities
available inside Russia, offshore gambling revenues are expected to drop.
Posted by Anonymous at 11:22 on 12 January 2010
