Tough Russian gambling bill passes first reading 440 - 0
Source: Moscow Times
http://www.moscowti mes.ru/stories/ 2006/11/16/ 010.html
The bill, submitted by President Vladimir Putin last month, sailed through a first reading Wednesday by a vote of 440-0 and one abstention.
[Attempts will be made to give existing gambling operations more time to close or re-establish in the four new zones.]
The exact locations of the four zones have not been chosen, but Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov has said two zones will be in European Russia, one in Siberia and one in the Far East.
Moscow does not plan to apply for the status of a gambling zone, a Moscow deputy mayor, Iosif Ordzhonikidze said last month. This means that the 537 gaming establishments that are licensed to operate in Moscow would need to close or relocate to a special zone by 2009.
[Feelings against the gambling industry are running high with one member of the Russian Parliament, Vladimir Medinsky, proposing that ] concrete walls topped with barbed wire ought to be built round "casinos and other such filth" to keep young people and old-timers away.
