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Insight BELARUS - REPORT


Vitaly Safronov is the editor of the Casino Belarus website which is a guide to Minsk covering nightclubs, restaurants and hotels, plus a useful section on the casinos in Minsk including reviews and information about the venues.


www.casinobelarus.ru vitaly@safronov.org


A brief - yet colourful - history of the casino sector in Belarus


Te first casinos in Minsk began to open at the beginning of the 1990s. Te pioneer among gambling establishments was "Belatraktsion" in the Sports Palace in the area of Nemiga. It could hardly be called a casino, since the place was quite small and just had several card tables. Nor did it last long.


In 1992, the Yubileinoe casino was opened - this date is considered the birth of the gambling business in Belarus. Te casino still exists today - the true patriarch of the domestic gaming industry.


Te first casinos, apart from Yubileiny, were also Emir, Planet, and Rubin. Tese establishments, like Belatraktsion, have opened in the Nemiga area. Today, only the Emir casino continues to operate.


Over time, casinos began to open in Minsk, which were part of international gambling networks such as the Admiral casino at the Orbita hotel, which was part of Austrian Gaming Industries (AGI). Ten in the 2000s the Princess casinos in Nemiga and the Princess casinos in Zhuravinka opened, which are part of the Princess Casinos International casino network.


Te year 2009 can be considered a special date in the history of the gambling business in Belarus - a kind of milestone after which the gaming industry of the Fatherland could no longer be the same.


On July 1, 2009, a law came into force in Russia, which introduced a ban on gambling throughout the country, apart from four specially created gambling zones, quite remote from Moscow.


It is quite close from Minsk to Moscow and the casinos are open waiting for guests. President Alexander Lukashenko said: “With a competent approach, the gambling business can and should become an additional source of budget replenishment through taxes, contribute to the


P80 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS


“With a competent approach, the gambling business can and should become an additional source of budget replenishment through


taxes, contribute to the creation of new jobs, attract tourists and investments in our country.” President


Alexander Lukashenko


creation of new jobs, attract tourists and investments in our country.”


It was believed that after this date the country's gambling business crossed the line of stagnation and began to develop actively. Investors from the Russian Federation rushed to the Belarusian market and players from a neighbouring country began to visit Minsk casinos more often. It was suggested Minsk would turn into a Slavic Las Vegas. But not everything is that simple!


Since 2009, the legislation of Belarus related to the gambling business has undergone several major changes which have affected many gambling operators in the country and beyond.


Interesting is the opinion of Igor Rechk of the company General Manager, who has said: “Until 2009, it rarely happened when casinos in the capital of Belarus were closed, and after 2009 more than 15 gambling establishments ceased to exist. Basically, these are Belarusian operators,


as they could not withstand the competition and pressure from new laws."


In addition to the four per cent tax on winnings one can also highlight the Special Computer Cash System (SCCS), which now controls all monetary transactions that are carried out in the establishments of the gaming industry. Te tax on winnings has indeed seriously affected the number of establishments in the gambling industry in Belarus. According to the Ministry of Taxes and Tax Collection, 47 establishments were closed in the first quarter of 2016, including six casinos and 41 slot machine halls.


Note that until 2009, the number of gambling establishments in the country only increased: in 2007 there were 688 of them, in 2008 there were 822, and in 2009 there were 1,054 gaming establishments. In 2009, there were 30 casinos in Minsk.


As of September 1, 2012, 406 gambling establishments were already operating in Belarus (242 less than in 2011). In August 2013, there were about 470 establishments in the country, including 19 casinos that operated in Minsk. In 2016, 490 gambling establishments were operating in Belarus, although at least 47 were closed.


For comparison today only 16 casinos operate in Minsk. It is difficult to say what the future of the Belarusian gambling business will be, how tightly it will keep under the weight of existing and future laws - but while it is, top-level casinos are still open and delight guests with new programmes and popular games.


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