The reason to seriously tackle the problem of the gambling business was the October inspections by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of a number of Moscow casinos, the owners of which were declared to be some Georgian authorities. Afterwards, having compared casinos to “alcoholization of the population,” Vladimir Putin announced the final solution to the gambling issue and offered parliamentarians his draft law on the gambling business. Its essence was reduced to the eviction of gambling establishments to four special zones.

The deputies got the hint and gave the market a “gift” on New Year’s Eve, having managed to pass the law “On state regulation of activities related to organizing and conducting gambling” in three readings. The law was recently approved by the Federation Council. The gambling reform will take place in two stages. From July 1, 2007, restrictions will come into force that should facilitate business concentration: the net assets of a gambling establishment operator must be no less than 600 million rubles, the minimum size of a casino is 800 square meters, the gaming machine hall is 100 square meters, the gambling equipment must be owned by the operator, the minimum number of gaming tables is 10, machines are 50, and the technically set percentage of winnings cannot be less than 90%, the age limit for visitors and employees is 18 years. Establishments that do not meet the requirements will be closed. According to the draft law, the issuance of licenses for gambling businesses will be handled by a federal authorized body (it is unclear which one exactly: since this right was taken away from Rossport on December 31, 2004, no one has been issuing licenses). Gambling on the Internet and via mobile phones is completely prohibited.

As of July 1, 2009, all gambling establishments in Russia must be located in four zones: Kaliningrad Oblast, Altai and Primorsky Krais, and on the border of Rostov Oblast and Krasnodar Krai. As Vladimir Medinsky, deputy chairman of the relevant State Duma committee, explained to Vedomosti, the desires of local authorities were taken into account first and foremost when choosing the regions.

The market has not appreciated the innovation – so far not a single operator has agreed to move to the reservation. “The timeframe is unrealistic. And the investments would have to be monstrous,” says Boris Belotserkovsky, co-owner of Ritzio Entertainment Group. “We need to take into account the time it takes to obtain a new license, develop the project, obtain the necessary permits and approvals for construction, the construction itself and the formation of infrastructure; I believe this will take at least five years,” agrees Michael Boettcher, president of Storm International.

Gambling market leaders decided to diversify their business even before the reforms. The gaming machine manufacturer Unicum has launched the production of vending machines and payment terminals, SmartGames – electronic game simulators, Rosgame is going to invest in real estate. And Oleg Boyko, co-owner of Ritzio Entertainment Group, intends to withdraw about $2 billion from the gambling business and invest it in a chain of stores.

The government's initiative has forced even the giants of the global market to slow down. The fate of the contract between Publishing and Broadcasting (PBL), owned by Australia's richest family, the Packer, and the Agalarov family's Crocus Group, under which PBL would have received over 24,000 square meters of management space for a casino in one of the centers under construction, is unknown. And the Moscow Region government will most likely be unable to fulfill its contract with the large South African company Sun International for the construction of the Parkland complex for $2 billion, which was to include several casinos.

The "one-armed" were exiled to the provinces