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RUSSIA
sized organisers,” says a spokesman. There have been suggestions that the Ukraine
The new law also specifies that operators should zone its gambling in a similar way to
must have a minimum amount capital when Russia and Kazakhstan. But European-style
In 2006, the lower house of the Russian applying for their licence and must be able to regulations have also been mooted in parliament.
parliament passed a law limiting the operation of provide financial guarantees. It also specifies that The Finance Ministry has developed a draft
casinos and slot machines to four gambling operators must pay their licence fees in advance gaming bill, details of which are yet to be made
zones a distance from Moscow. or in four equal quarterly payments. clear. It is hoped that it will finally provide some
The law was the brainchild of President In addition, the law states that betting stability for the sector.
Vladimir Putin who vowed to limit the operators must use a specific computer In the meantime, operators are still suffering
proliferation of gambling that had taken over the programme and that the technical control of all due to the high cost of an operating licence. This,
capitals streets and beyond. It will finally come gambling machines and other gaming devices combined with a lack of joined-up legislation in
into effect in July of this year and will also ban must be exercised by the Romanian Office of the country has led to a proliferation of illegal
online gaming in Russia. Legal Metrology. The gambling, which has proved problematic. The
The four regions where operators can run their technical norms of verification used, as well as government is torn between wanting to limit
businesses are the Kaliningrad region by the the tariffs charged for the activities of gambling to four official zones, and its desire to
Baltic Sea, the Primorye region in the Far East, technical control are approved annually by the become a member of the EU, which takes a dim
Altai in Siberia and an area in the south spanning Minister of Public Finance. view of this type of legislation. Therefore, it is
the Rostov and Krasnodar regions. A.O.P.J.N.R. estimates that the new law will believed that the new law will be less restrictive.
The new law also stipulates that casinos must halve the existing number of gaming operators Last month, the Ukrainian Government held a
have a floor space of at least 800 sq m (8,611 sq and open up the market for medium-sized consultation on the draft law, discussing
ft). Gaming halls with machines must have at responsible companies. regulations on money laundering and player
least 50 machines and a floor space of at least protection and mooting the possibility of
100 sq m (1,076 sq ft). regulating online gaming.
Needless to say, the law has already decimated
UKRAINE
Most recently, Ukraine’s prime minister has
the gambling industry in Russia and has had a signalled her intention to seek parliamentary
damaging effect on many suppliers who were Formerly an important agricultural and industrial enforcement of measures to withdraw existing
doing brisk business in the region. A large region of the Soviet Union, the Ukraine now gambling licences and force casinos and slot
number of businesses were already closed down depends on Russia for most of its energy machine parlours to be exiled to remote parts of
in 2007. supplies, especially natural gas, although it is the country.
As of July 1 2009, only three of the four zones trying to diversify its sources.
have been properly constituted - Azov-City; One of the main problems facing Ukrainian
Sibirskaya Moneta,and Yantarnaya. Legislation machine operators is the ever-changing legal
needed to formalise a zone in the Primorye situation. The government has cherry-picked
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Region has not been completed. ideas from both Eastern and Western Europe.
At its peak, the Russian casino industry
employed around 40,000 people and job losses
have already started as operators close down
operations before enforced closures kick in.
Some casinos are planning to switch to
providing poker, which was classified as a sport
rather than a gaming activity in 2007.
ROMANIA
In 2007 a new gambling law was drafted by the
Romanian government. It is still making its way
through the legislative process. The law will
introduce a new classification of gambling
activity and a new category of machine which is
similar to an AWP.
The new law will introduce a new licensing
system requiring a licence for gambling activities
which is valid for five years and the obligation of
further one year licences for games and
locations.
There is now a minimum number of 75
machines that can be operated by one company
and there must be at least 10 machines in each
location. The Romanian trade association is
lobbying for the minimum number of machines
per operator to be changed to 50-80 and the
minimum number of machines in each location to
be changed from 5-8. “Our proposals will have
beneficial effects for the activities of medium-
8
SEPTEMBER 2009
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