Russia’s oldest Gaming zone to be shuttered from December 31

In Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) has signed an official order which will observe the casino gambling zone close to the southern city of Azov closed in the last day of December.

A decade in the making:

Based on a October 24 report from CasinoGamesPro.com, Russia passed laws in 2007 that created casino gambling illegal nationally with the exception of four disparate areas encompassing the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Resort zone close to the port city of Vladivostok, parts of the Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic Sea, sections of central Asia’s Altai Krai along with also the Shcherbinovsky district some 43 miles southwest of Azov.

Demoted in favor of rivals:

But, President Vladimir Putin allegedly approved an amendment to this measure in May of 2016 which disqualified Shcherbinovsky district in favor of this Krasnaya Polyana area close to the Black Sea port city of Sochi, which was added to the list of permitted zones in 2014 following hosting this season ’s XXII Olympic Winter Games, along with parts of this recently-annexed Crimea Peninsula.

Uncertain potential:

CasinoGamesPro.com reported that the Shcherbinovsky district was the first of the new Russian gambling regions to sponsor a casino while four such venues still remain in operation. Of these, Shambala Casino from local firm CJSC Shambala is purportedly the biggest and recently inaugurated a new 105-room hotel tower complete with a five-star spa.

The last decade has allegedly seen CJSC Shambala and Kazan-based rival Royal Time Group invest over $91.2 million to bringing casinos into the Shcherbinovsky district and also the pair has always been seeking assurances from Moscow that all this cash hasn’t been spent in vain.

No reimbursement forthcoming:

But, CasinoGamesPro.com reported that casino operators at the Shcherbinovsky district were left handed before this year following draft laws appeared that would bar them from creating any financial claims for the coming closure of the gambling zone. This is due to how the proposed measure deals with the future and will only enable companies to receive compensation if their area is shuttered in ten decades of being designated.