The Ministry of Finance issued an official letter explaining that online-casinos are allowed not to pay taxes. While virtual market is expanding and flourishing the state authorities are not able to invent a mechanism of control. Alexei Sorokin, a head of property taxes division in taxes policy department of Ministry of Finance, claimed the following: “Online totes, casinos and lottery are not imposed by taxes because they do not have a tax base.” From a technical point of view, internet resources are considered to be a computer program, and taxes are oriented only for something real and material, which is why nothing can hinder internet operators to prosper uncontrolled, a worrying situation. “It is difficult to comprehend the situation when the authorities, expressing concerns to those who became victims of the “one-armed bandits”, are not interested in protection of those who would like to play on the Internet,” – remarked Oleg Zhuravsky, president of Association of Gaming Business in Internet (AIBI), at the round table in Duma. According to Zhuravsky there are no more than 10 licensed gaming sites and some hundreds of web recourses are “gray”. “Very often such operators do not have even an account department or office. They do not provide telephone services and communicate by means of ICQ. Evidently they do not guarantee fair play,” concluded Zhuravsky. Over 10 per cent of Russian gambling bets are staked on the Internet. Close to the World Cup, the total number of bets multiplied greatly. It is difficult for inexperienced person to find an honestly operated gaming site on the Internet so very often they become cheated. According to expert estimations the turnover of online gambling in Russia is not huge. “Last year it was 45 million USD,” – said Vladislav Kochetkov from “Finam” agency. He predicted the figure could be doubled this year.

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