Russia’s War on Illegal Gambling

Sat, Feb 1, 2014

Authorities in Russia have shut down tens of thousands of unlicensed gambling operations since a law went into effect four years ago banning the industry from the country’s major population centers. The crackdown has resulted in more than $17 million in fines and the seizure of more than 700,000 pieces of gaming equipment.

Since Russia outlawed casinos in 2009, the country’s police have uncovered and closed down more than 61,000 underground gambling establishments.

This is according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which calculates the total of fines levied over that time at 602 million rubles (US$17.1 million), and the number of slot machines and other gaming equipment seized at 796,000.

The 2009 prohibition restricts the industry to four outlying areas: Kaliningrad in European Russia, the Don-Rostov region in the south, Altai in Central Asia, and in the region surrounding Vladivostok in the Far East.