Crimea gambling zone takes a step closer to reality

r receiving approval in July from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the territory of Crimea has completed all preliminary work and is all set for the creation of a new gambling zone.

Speaking to the local news agency RIA-Novosti, Crimean Minister of Economic Development, Andrei Melnikov, said: "All the preparatory work has been done by the republic, the documents have been submitted to the government of the Russian Federation for the adoption of the resolution on the creation of the gambling zone and we are now waiting for the appropriate decision.

"The operator of the gambling zone will be determined, tourist and hotel facilities will be created; we are confident that the gaming zone will become a kind of attraction around which an advanced infrastructure can be built. This is our main task."

It is expected that the construction of the gambling zone in Crimea will begin after the opening of the bridge across the Kerch Strait, which is reported to open by December 2018.

“The Russian investor involved in this project does not refuse to create a gambling zone in the Big Yalta. Nevertheless, there are a number of objective and subjective reasons not to force the construction of a gambling zone. First of all, complicated and expensive logistics, because of which it is very problematic to deliver construction materials from the mainland,” added the local official Alexei Chernyak.

The new law, signed by Putin in July, also extended the gambling zone in Russia's southern Krasnodar territory to cover the city of Sochi with its Winter Olympics venues. Additionally, three other gambling zones were set up in Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, the Far East and Siberia's Altai territory.