OREANDA-NEWS. January 30, 2009. In Saint Petersburg`s Government, they think it possible to extend the terms of gambling facilities` operation in the city for another year provided that the tax collections are increased. This is the initiative expressed by Petersburg`s Vice Governor Michail Oseevsky.

In his opinion, under the current circumstances it would be unprofitable to close gambling facilities which generate certain revenues for the city budget in the form of taxes; furthermore, the closure of casinos will result in their employees` losing jobs and create new problems in the sector of employment. “It should be admitted that the idea with setting up gaming zones in Russia has hardly been implemented, and the industry operators prefer going to other countries,” the Vice Governor remarked.

At the same time Oseevsky underlined that in Petersburg now there is order with location of gambling facilities – “now there are no slot halls at every turn as there used to be; the entire business has been relocated to casinos.” “We would agree to extend the terms of gambling facilities` operation in Saint Petersburg, for instance, for another year. But they`ll have to pay for it. In this event the tax for this activity should be doubled. Now there are 122 casinos in the city. According to the law in effect, they have the right to operate till June 30th 2009.