Those whispers of turning Crimea into a gambling zone apparently aren’t unfounded. No less than Russian president Vladimir Putin has given his approval to plans of legalizing gambling in the recently-annexed territory and he showed that conviction by submitting a draft bill to parliament that would designate Crimea as a fully legal gambling zone.
A little over a month ago, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak was heading serious discussions on how Russia could stimulate Crimea’s economy after the breakaway region seceded from Ukraine in March. One of those scenarios was turning it into a gambling zone, and as its turned out, that scenario has gained some serious legs with the big man himself giving his approval on it.
It’s become perfectly clear in the eyes of the world that Russia is swiftly trying to incorporate Crimea by jumpstarting its economy. A bridge that will connect the region to mainland Russia has already been green lighted and communication lines between the two are already being laid down. Those are two steps to Russia’s plans for the region, but the most important item on the table is to attract foreign investors to bring their money to Crimea. One obvious scenario is to turn it into a gambling zone with suggestions of also turning it into a special economic zone that will create special tax breaks for these foreign companies.
Should the bill pass, the next objective on the table is planning on how best to proceed with establishing a gambling industry in Crimea. That point was touched on by the region’s acting leader Sergei Aksyonov, who told the Itar-Tass news agency that plans are being put in place to build a specific gambling center in one location, instead of merely allowing gambling to happen anywhere on the peninsula.
Here’s the catch, though: how many of these casino operators are willing to jump in on this new gambling zone given the rather contentious way Russia occupied and ultimately annexed the region out of the Ukraine’s hands.
Clearly, theres going to be a lot political land mines to evade, enough to at least consider if whether pursuing a business opportunity in Crimea is worth all the trouble to begin with.
source : www.calvinayre.com
