Casinos Closed By Russian Government Starting Wednesday

The Russian government has advised casino operators of their options recently. They must relocate their businesses to areas that have been approved for casino gambling, or they will be shut down for good. On Wednesday of this week, that promise by the government will start being enforced.

Once the casinos are closed for good on Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of people will have lost their jobs. That will make the economic crisis in the country even deeper, but the government does not care, they are moving forward with their plan.

"The authorities are taking this step without thinking at all," said Irina Mysachka, a single mother who works in a Russian casino, as reported by The New York Times, "They have not considered what this direction means for the workers. With this crisis, it is going to be very difficult for us."

The regions that have been approved for future casino gambling are the coastal area of the Far East, the Altai region of Siberia, the Azov Sea region in the south, and Kaliningrad. The casino owners have concerns that casinos can thrive in these regions.

The government, however, has become fed up with the industry as a whole. The reputation of the casino industry is not the cleanest, and the government wants no loopholes for these casinos to continue to operate.

"The rules will not be advised in any way," said President Dmitri Medvedev last month, "and there will be no backsliding, although various business organizations have been lobbying for precisely this."

June 29, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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