With these hopes in mind, and the thought that the current gaming market makes around $5.5 billion a year in Russia, President Putin’s comments have understandably shocked a few people. Not least those that could find themselves out of work, their livelihoods removed seemingly at a whim. Of course, the upside is that any organised crime involved in the current casino setup can be removed in one go. Recently, a clutch of large Moscow casinos were shut down as they were reportedly controlled by ‘ethnic Georgians’. If the new draft law proposed by Putin is passed, Russia will have four regional gambling destinations: two in the ‘European’ part of the country, one in Siberia and one in the far east. It seems something of a leap to go from apparently wanting tighter regulations for the gaming industry, which is perfectly understandable, to wanting to create four Vegas-esque destinations that are nowhere near any population centres. Think about the infrastructure they will require, and the investment that must underwrite that – hundreds of miles of roads, water, electricity, housing, probably even airports, hotels – and multiply it by four. Having been burned significantly already, it would not surprise many of us if the casino industry thought twice before investing such huge sums in Russia. Very few organisations within the country could afford such outlay, so presumably Mr Putin is looking outside the country for such investment, particularly after the recent jailing of one of Russia’s richest oligarchs. As Unicum President Boris Belotserkovsky said: “The market is not ready for complexes like Las Vegas. As a result, the existing market will be destroyed and a new one won’t emerge.” Let’s hope he’s wrong.

Jon Bruford, Editor

jonbruford@yahoo.co.uk

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