Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the finance ministry’s plan to legalize and regulate online casinos.
The Russian media outlet Expert Online reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to support or reject the proposal.
“The proposal is yet to be decided upon,” Peskov told a reporter who asked him about Putin’s stance on the matter.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told top Russian newspapers he had sent a letter to Putin asking him to lift a blanket ban on online casinos by issuing a presidential decree.
No Putin Casino Comments Yet
Siluanov proposes establishing a national platform for the accounting of regulated online casinos.
The Ministry of Finance wants to tax operators at 30% of their revenues, minus winning payouts.
The minister said the proposal would help contribute approximately 100 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) to state coffers annually.
Siluanov also proposed placing the Unified Regulator of Gambling (URAG), Russia’s bricks-and-mortar casino and bookmaking regulator, in charge of supervising the sector. The ministry has asked Putin to approve an age limit of at least 21 years for online casino users.
The plan has proved extremely contentious and divisive in Russia. It has already drawn vociferous criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as psychologists and anti-gambling bodies.
The latest to join the chorus of opposition to the plan is the State Duma lawmaker for the Novosibirsk region, Alexander Aksenenko.
According to the Russian media outlet Vse42, Aksenenko called the ministry’s plan “cynical.”
The lawmaker said the plans showed that the “tears” of the families of online gambling addicts are “worth nothing” to proponents.
“The problem of gambling is already serious enough in the Novosibirsk region,” Aksenenko said. “Why make it worse?”
Ex-Gambling Addict Speaks Out
A former gambling addict concurred. Sergei Perevozchikov told the Russian broadcaster Krim24 that legalizing online casinos would “lead to an increase in gambling addiction.”
Perevozchikov said the plan would “negatively impact public safety.”
“Legalization will make online casinos very easy to access,” Perevozchikov explained. “And that will inevitably lead to an increase in the number of people gambling.”
The ministry says its proposal should be accompanied by a crackdown on unregistered online casino operators.
But Perevozchikov noted that efforts to shut down illegal sites are usually ineffective, as players and operators typically find ways to circumvent blocks and restrictions.
The former betting addict welcomed a new self-prohibition system that will come into effect later this year. The system will let gambling addicts block themselves from placing bets in casinos and bookmakers’ offices for a minimum of one year.
Perevozchikov said the registry would help people tackle their addiction more effectively and make rational decisions on their next steps.
Novosibirsk, Siberia’s biggest city, has seen a rapid uptick in illegal betting-related crime in recent months. Police in Siberia say they shut down 34 illegal betting dens last year.
In October, police shut down an illegal casino they found operating in one of Novosibirsk’s biggest hospitals.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the finance ministry’s plan to legalize and regulate online casinos. The Russian media outlet Expert Online reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to support or reject the proposal. “The proposal is yet to be decided upon,” Peskov told a reporter who
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