Golden Mountains. How the casino works in the new gambling zone "Krasnaya Polyana"

The Olympics had not yet begun when investors started talking about ways to develop the post-Olympic legacy and return on investment through the gambling zone in Sochi. But the government was against it: they wanted to turn the resort town into a family recreation center for people with average incomes and below. “If we have invested such huge amounts of money here, it is not for a small group of selected citizens who can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a casino,” Vladimir Putin said at one of the meetings.

Two years later, a gambling zone was opened in the mountain village of Krasnaya Polyana. Since December 2016, Domain LLC, the operator of Casino Sochi, has been operating here. Why has the concept of Russian resort development changed?

From croupier to wipers

On a summer evening in 2009, young people gathered on Pushkinskaya Square in the center of Moscow. Thousands of croupiers, bartenders and pit bosses have lost their jobs since July 1. After the law banning came into force gambling business in Russia they were offered positions as social workers, nurses or janitors. The decision to liquidate everything gambling establishments in the country, except for bookmakers and lotteries, was adopted in 2006. At that time, the gambling market in Russia was estimated at approximately $5.5–6 billion. And if not for the new law, the market would have grown to $8 billion, estimated Evgeniy Kovtun, vice-president of the Association of Gambling Business Figures. For casino owners, the night of July 1, 2009 became the “X-hour” - from now on they could work exclusively in specially designated territories in the Altai, Krasnodar and Primorsky territories, as well as in the Kaliningrad region.

The next day, 1500 km from Moscow in the town of Molchanovka on the border of the Rostov region and Krasnodar region The first gambling zone “Azov City” was officially opened. In the middle clean field They set up tarpaulin tents with wheat and invited a delegation of investors, administration officials and journalists. “The event was grandiose and widely covered in the media,” recalls the events of almost ten years ago, Maxim Smolentsev, general director of Shambhala CJSC, a resident of Azov City. Until 2006, he had his own casino chain in Krasnodar. In 2008, Smolentsev bought a plot of land in the new zone and began construction of two casinos and a five-star hotel. His neighbor, operator from Tatarstan Royal Time Group, leased the lion's share of Azov City's land.

The governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Alexander Tkachev, who personally supervised this project, also came to the ceremony. He pressed the symbolic buttons to start electricity, gas and water, emphasizing that the region had fulfilled its obligations to investors 100% and now the word belongs to business. The official even made the first bet, on the advice of the croupier, he bet on the date of birth - 23 is red, but it came up as 27.

In total, the administration of the Krasnodar region invested about 1 billion rubles in the infrastructure of Azov City, for which it demanded certain obligations to investors: the volume of construction and delivery dates.

Smolentsev says that they couldn’t meet the deadline on time: “We paid a fine, but in the end we opened, investing a total of $10 million.” For the future, we have planned the construction of a toll road to Azov City, an airfield for small aircraft and a sea marina. The government was going to allocate 18 billion rubles for this to the Rostov region. Financing of the Krasnodar part of the zone was to be carried out within the framework of the federal target program. But the plans were not destined to come true.

Stunned by Kuban

In August 2010, the administration of President Dmitry Medvedev received a letter signed by Tkachev. In it, the governor proposed to postpone open year back to the Azov City zone further south, to Anapa, since the current location does not attract either players or investors. Rostov operators, who had already purchased equipment for the casino in Azov City, were at a loss: “We are shocked and do not understand anything, although we are in constant dialogue with the authorities.” The governor of the Rostov region, Vasily Golubev, learned about the transfer of the zone from the press and was, to put it mildly, surprised. In the fall of 2010, amendments were made to the Federal Law “On Gambling”, and the Rostov region was excluded from the list of subjects of the Russian Federation where there may be gambling zones. The regional administration was counting on an immediate economic effect, believes Maxim Smolentsev. “Everyone was talking about the thriving gambling addiction in the country and, under this pretext, they drove the business to the edge of the country. But there were no queues of people wanting to play at the casino in the outskirts,” he says. His income during the first year of operation of the new casino decreased dramatically compared to his previous business in Krasnodar by several times.

“Everyone was talking about the thriving gambling addiction in the country and, under this pretext, they drove the business to the edge of the country. But there were no queues of people wanting to play at the outlying casino.”

In September 2010, at the international investment forum in Sochi, the Krasnodar Territory presented a new project for the Golden Sands gambling and entertainment zone in Anapa. The project was enormous: a shell-shaped hotel with a pearl in the center, a casino with 1,600 machines, 42 beachfront villas, a golf park and a yacht harbor. “The Black Sea coast has all the infrastructure and a flow of tourists. The economic effect will be greater and faster than from Azov City,” said Vice-Governor Alexey Agafonov. The competition was won by Krasnodar-based Adaptas (Rus) and wanted to invest more than 16 billion rubles. The object was to be managed American company Capella Hotel Group, its president Horst Schulze himself came to the site and “in in a good way I was stunned by Kuban, promised to come to Anapa and supervise the acceptance,” said then the general director of Adaptas (Rus) Evgeny Gorobets.

But things didn’t go further than the pit. Construction was constantly delayed; in addition, over the course of the year, Adaptas (Rus) accumulated debts to the land lessor and the builders. The company went to court several times, trying to reduce the rent - due to the uncertainty with the opening of a gambling zone near Anapa, the site lost its investment attractiveness. Later, Adaptas (Rus) was declared bankrupt.

After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in the spring of 2014, the concept of organizing the gambling business in the country changed somewhat. On the legalization of casinos and. O. Governor of Crimea Sergei Aksenov spoke at the end of March: they had planned to develop a gambling cluster here before, but now the new subject of the federation was in dire need of additional economic stimulation. The opening of the fifth gambling zone on the peninsula solved this problem - up to 25 billion rubles to the federal budget and an increase in tourist traffic by 20%. And although the Ministry of Finance, in its report by April 2014, recorded the disappointing results of the work of four gambling zones in Russia, emphasizing the futility of the experiment for Crimea, the project was approved six months later, adding Sochi to Crimea.

No worse than Crimea

At a Saturday meeting of the Sochi Public Council in May 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak was in for a surprise. The governor of the region and the mayor of the city prepared a written appeal with a proposal to establish a gambling zone within the city of Sochi, in the Imereti Valley. Six months earlier, during the Olympics, Putin said that gambling spoil the image of a family resort. Kozak agreed with him: “There are zones in the country, in other territories, let them develop.” He was confident that all the real estate built for the Olympics would be in demand after. Moreover, investors who want to quickly return their invested money have extended the loan repayment period. But regional authorities insisted: the maintenance of post-Olympic facilities “will place a heavy burden on budgets at all levels.” And taxes from the gambling zone will allow, for example, to support the operation of Lastochka electric trains, Tkachev added during the meeting.

Back in 2012, investors in the state-owned company Resorts spoke about retraining Olympic buildings into gambling establishments. North Caucasus", but no one supported the idea. After the asset was transferred to Sberbank, which invested more than 70 billion rubles in the construction of the Gorki Gorod resort in Krasnaya Polyana (of which 52.2 billion rubles were a loan from VEB to Sberbank), the issue was raised by German Gref. A month before the Olympics, he announced that he would sell a non-core asset (the company NJSC Krasnaya Polyana) at least in parts, and there were already interested parties. “There are not many commercial ideas on how to make the country start making money on the post-Olympic legacy,” he said.

When Gref realized that it was almost impossible to recoup investments in construction, the idea of an entertainment center arose, says a businessman who knows him. “They even wanted to lay out a green corridor from the airport so that all foreigners and simply rich people would be brought here right away,” he says. For example, a 55-kilometer bridge is being built in China to connect the gaming cluster in Macau with Hong Kong. To the government’s criticism of the proximity of gambling and family leisure, Gref replied: “Not a single ski resort in Switzerland, from Davos to St. Moritz, would have received such development without a casino.” To reinforce the idea of a “Russian Las Vegas,” the head of the bank personally met the owners large casinos world in Sochi, and they carried out a feasibility study of investments for the zone, says Forbes’ interlocutor.

Another argument was the precedent with Crimea. “The administration of the Krasnodar region was offended: they say, why is the famous Russian resort city deprived of preferences, why is it worse than Crimea?” - says Maria Lepshchikova, a lawyer at Legal Line LLC, specializing in the gambling business. According to her, in Crimea they relied on tourists and investors from Turkey, where casinos are prohibited (the Turkish holding Princess International Group was eyeing the zone). Sochi also wanted to attract foreigners, because the travel time both there and there is the same - two hours by plane. On the positive wave of the annexation of Crimea, the state decided to create two new gambling zones, says Lepshchikova. In the summer of 2014, legislators included Sochi and the Republic of Crimea in the list of regions with gambling zones, and decided to liquidate Azov City by January 1, 2019.

The right person

To the capital Winter Games Dmitry Anfinogenov was sent as a crisis manager to boost the economy of hotels that were acquired by the Soyuz Marins Group company, where he worked. Anfinogenov did well: within a year he raised the profitability of the objects entrusted to him from 30% to 50%, net profit increased by a third. “Everything could already work without me,” recalls the top manager. One day, when he was having dinner in a cafe at his hotel, two people sat down with him and started talking. New acquaintances complained that there was not enough drinking water in the rooms. The guests learned that Dmitry was working at the hotel the next day, when they found several sealed bottles in the rooms as if ordered.

On the positive wave of the annexation of Crimea, the state decided to create two new gambling zones - Sochi and the Republic of Crimea, and to liquidate Azov City

These two turned out to be employees supervisory authority- the Omega Center company of the Department of Property Relations of the Krasnodar Territory, which controlled preparations for the Olympics. They invited Anfinogenov to their place, he was supposed to take care of the hotel stock of 9,200 rooms. “Despite the general hysteria, in the first summer after the Olympics, Omega’s facilities reached 85% capacity, without the involvement of large tour operators,” he says. By the end of the year, Omega intended to buy NAO Krasnaya Polyana from Sberbank, but the deal did not take place. “The Department of Property Relations (the owner of Omega) did not approve,” explains Anfinogenov. - High risks, high debt exposure of the facility. "Omega also had its own debts of 10 billion rubles."

Losses of NAO Krasnaya Polyana, which owns large hotels in Gorki Gorod, low-rise townhouses and chalets, amounted to 22 billion rubles in 2014. Operators overestimated the demand for hotel services in the complex - revenue was 70% below plan. Anfinogenov’s experience in crisis management came in handy again: in October 2015, he became commercial director NAO. According to him, the operating loss was smaller - about 8 billion rubles (the amount of 22 billion included the construction part, for example, the Olympic ski jumps on the balance sheet of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and the task was to optimize the budget. “In 2015, NAO earned 4 billion rubles, half of which was provided by the hotel fund,” says Anfinogenov. “Taking into account our strong competitor, Rosa Khutor, this figure is very decent.” In 2016, Krasnaya Polyana’s loss dropped to 1.5 billion rubles, according to Spark-Interfax. By this time, Sberbank had finally found a buyer for the Gorki Gorod resort - the Resort Plus company.

Competition for the zone

In August 2016, Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the creation of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone in Sochi. In September, the organizer of exhibitions and conferences Smile Expo announced the holding of the Russian Gaming Week Sochi conference. There was no doubt that the event would generate interest in the market. Large bookmakers like Bingo Boom really wanted to get to Krasnaya Polyana. “Among all the gambling zones, it was of maximum interest due to its location and infrastructure, incomparable to the Rostov field or the coastal steppe,” says one of the players in this market.

“Among all the gambling zones, Krasnaya Polyana was of maximum interest due to its location and infrastructure, incomparable to the Rostov field or the coastal steppe”

In the fall of 2016, the name of the first and so far only resident became known - Domain LLC, registered in December 2015 and owned by Singapore-based Silverron International Pte. Other players in the gambling market learned after the fact that the license was awarded to a young foreign company through a competition. “There were no trades,” says Maxim Smolentsev. And all further requests from Shambhala, which wanted to enter the Krasnaya Polyana zone, remained unanswered. According to Dmitry Anfinogenov, who later moved to Domain, the auctions organized by NAO were public, two companies participated in them, including a certain Royal. According to Spark-Interfax, 90% of it belongs to the same Singaporean company, another 10% belongs to Mikhail Danilov, co-owner of Star Beta, Bingo Boom and resident companies of other gambling zones. The general director of Domain LLC is a man also named Mikhail Danilov, but, according to Spark-Interfax, he and the shareholder Royal have different middle names. Forbes' interlocutor knows Danilov as a partner of Rashid Taimasov, co-founder and former general director Kazan "Royal Time Group". In July 2018, Taimasov was declared bankrupt.

A former media center with an area of 33,000 square meters was allocated for Casino Sochi. m, built for the Olympics and successfully connected by a gallery to the Marriott hotel. The renovation of the building was completed in less than six months; the American bureau Steelman Partners was hired, which designed facilities in Las Vegas and Macau. At the same time, Anfinogenov moved to Domain. The management included many foreigners with impressive experience in foreign casinos - from New Zealand, Austria, part of the team was invited from gambling establishments in Vladivostok, where the casinos are comparable in size to the Sochi one. Investments in the project amounted to 4 billion rubles. For comparison: two residents of the Azov City zone invested 8 billion rubles in three casinos, two hotels, several concert halls. Maxim Smolentsev admits: “The casino is very beautiful, the work of designers from the States is visible, but the investments are still somewhat overpriced.”

The long-awaited casino

Casino Sochi opened for visitors on New Year's Eve. “At the end of December, Arkady Novikov was still walking on cellophane here,” Anfinogenov smiles. The Moscow restaurateur was invited to evaluate two new concepts - Brunello and Buffet establishments. At the beginning of February 2017, Casino Sochi received a special audience - officials and billionaires. The excursion, dedicated to the Sochi Investment Forum, through the halls and VIP rooms was personally conducted by Tkachev, says one of the guests of that evening. They didn’t play roulette or cards, but there was a concert of the group “Bi-2”.

Anfinogenov is pleased with the first year of operation of Casino Sochi; not a single gambling establishment discloses financial indicators. The casino even has the unofficial status of a city-forming enterprise, employing about 1,000 people in 250 professions. “We are, of course, not a hydroelectric power station or a metallurgical plant, but we are comparable in terms of the tax base,” emphasizes the top manager. Tax deductions from Casino Sochi for the first year of operation amounted to 507 million rubles (taxes on a gambling establishment are calculated based on the number of tables and machines).

The success of the new gambling zone near Sochi is obvious: based on the results of 2017 total number There were 340,000 visitors to the casino alone. This figure catches up with Azov City with three casinos, where the annual traffic was 466,000. And already in January 2018, according to Anfinogenov, Sochi overtook Azov City. Guests come to Casino Sochi from more than 120 countries, most of all Russians, citizens of Israel, Turkey and the countries of the former USSR.

So far, it is difficult for the Gorki Gorod resort to compete in terms of promotion with the neighboring Rosa Khutor, especially in winter. “They have 100 km of ski slopes, we have only 30 km,” notes Anfinogenov. At the same time, it is Casino Sochi that guarantees a stable flow of tourists, regardless of the season. “Adding a casino to the wide range of leisure options already offered allows us to mitigate seasonality in the mountain cluster, especially in spring and autumn,” confirms Tatyana Weller, head of the department hotel business JLL company. Professional operators, especially high-end hotels, have been eagerly awaiting the casino's opening, she says. This had a positive impact on hotel occupancy and revenue.

Anfinogenov sees great potential for the development of a new gambling zone. The first slot machine hall “Bonus” operates in Gorki Gorod. By the end of 2018, Domain will open a third entertainment establishment already in Rosa Khutor - the Boomerang casino with a restaurant, karaoke, and night club. Investments in the project have not yet been disclosed. “There is no need to invent anything new,” Anfinogenov is confident of success. “We need to take the successful experience of our colleagues and competently adapt it to our country.”

The Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone has become a center of attraction for Russian tourists and foreign guests, lovers of entertainment and games in general, who come for a whole pool of gaming and entertainment offers. Today, the gambling zone "Krasnaya Polyana", created on August 10, 2016 by order of the Government of the Russian Federation, is represented by three gambling establishments: "Sochi Casino", the "Bonus" slot machine hall, located at the all-season resort "Gorki Gorod" and on the territory of the year-round mountain resort "Rosa Khutor".

Two years of work, numbers and facts

In two years, the gambling zone was visited over 850,000 people. The geography of guests covered 146 countries - despite the fact that in gambling zone the concept of a visa-free space has not been implemented. Of them 57 became participating countries in poker tournaments regularly held at Casino Sochi. The Sochi Poker Club, located in the casino, has established itself as the main platform for poker events in Russia and the world: in 2017-2018. passed here 18 major tournament series. Record prize fund poker tournament amounted to 690 000 000 rubles Record winnings during the drawing – 60 000 000 rubles in one hand.

In addition to international poker tournaments, Casino Sochi offers its guests a lot of entertainment: entertainment show programs, concerts of famous Russian and world stars, themed parties and much more. 92 free concerts was held on the central stage of the Sochi Casino, traditionally - admission is free.

Total won 4 582 jackpots in the amount of 1,437,524,781 rubles. Most big jackpot– 31,210,000 rubles. It was also played 22 car.

Among the guests of the gambling zone are: 66% - men, 34% - women us. 84% are Russian citizens: residents of the Krasnodar Territory and tourists of the region. The remaining 16% are guests from other countries. The most gambling regions steel Moscow and Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, Sverdlovsk region, Krasnodar region, Republic of Tatarstan.

The number of employees of the gambling zone today is over 1400 people and includes representatives from more than 250 professions. For 22 months of work amount of tax deductions included in the budget 1,472,247,964 rubles, which, according to industry experts, exceeded expected results.

In the establishments of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone you can visit various show programs, live performances by musicians, themed parties, broadcasts of presenters sporting events and intellectual games.

A separate area of work is the organization of MICE events of various formats: over the course of 2 years, 128 major corporate events for companies such as Sberbank, MTS, Gazprom, BOSCO, Lamborghini, Roscongress Foundation, etc.

Over the 2 years of work, the project received several awards:

THE MOSCOW LIFE & BUSINESS AWARDS - 2018, “Sochi Casino” - the best luxury entertainment project;
“Golden Prometheus” Award, “Casino Sochi” - winner of the “Discovery of the Year” nomination;
Time Out Award, Brunello restaurant - the best premium restaurant in Sochi;
Southern Pizza Championship Award, Buffett restaurant, 1st place.

Brand chef of the Casino Sochi restaurants Ilya Zakharov

Five favorite drinks casino guests: Moet & Chandon champagne, Jack Daniels whiskey, Hennessy cognac. Three favorite dishes guests of the BUFFET restaurant: assorted sushi, rolls, beef tataki with shiitake and edamame, halibut with squid and mashed potatoes; BRUNELLO restaurant: tasting sets, black cod in miso and chocolate sauce, served with cauliflower puree; crispy zucchini flowers with crab.

The format of the gambling zone as a cultural and entertainment center offering a whole range of recreation options has significantly expanded the potential audience of the project and proved the demand for a new type of entertainment in Sochi.

The concept of a single gambling zone

Domain LLC, the operator of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone, has been consistently introducing the concept of a single gaming zone: since December 2018, a single guest card and an updated loyalty program have been in effect in the gaming zone. By visiting any of the three operating gambling establishments, the player retains his privileges and accumulates loyalty points.

“We consciously offer a wide range of entertainment for every taste and expect that the number of our guests will increase, because everyone will find a format of relaxation to their liking. And our main task is to provide each guest with the most comfortable and safe conditions of stay.",” comments Dmitry Anfinogenov, development director of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone.

Dmitry Anfinogenov, development director of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone

Introduction of modern technical solutions – personal account on the website of the gambling zone and mobile application– will allow guests to receive all the necessary information about gaming and entertainment events in the gambling zone, tournaments and player ratings, as well as personal information previously available only during a personal visit: data on their status in the loyalty program, accumulated points and options for using them in the gambling zone .

Dmitry Anfinogenov announces plans for the gambling zone: « Long term strategy the development of the gambling zone involves the emergence of an entire entertainment industry cluster on the territory of Krasnaya Polyana: several restaurant projects and new nightclubs; There is urgency in adapting the resort's hotel fund to a casino. We focus on the highest standards of service and as the development of the gambling zone progresses, the entire complex will work as a single organism.”

SOCHI, January 5. /TASS/. The opening ceremony of the first casino of the new gambling zone "Krasnaya Polyana" will take place on Thursday in Sochi. The entertainment complex includes gaming rooms, two restaurants, a bar, a banquet hall, a cabaret theater, a conference hall, and boutiques, the Sochi Casino and Resort press service told TASS.

In test mode, the fifth gambling zone in the Russian Federation received its first visitors on December 24, 2016. “The so-called Fun Casino days and test launch are necessary to set up and optimize processes and perfect the interaction algorithm of a large team, which must work harmoniously and can provide the maximum high level service for our guests. Despite the fact that December 24 was not widely announced as the date for the test launch of Sochi Casino and Resort, the number of visits was about 1 thousand people, exceeding our expectations. In addition, there were many foreign guests at the casino,” Sochi Casino and Resort said.

Most popular games The tables on the first day of operation of the Sochi casino were blackjack and Russian poker.

Where and how casinos are developing in Russia

Law "On government regulation activities for organizing and conducting gambling" at the end of December 2016 celebrated the 10th anniversary of its adoption. Any gambling activity with the exception of bookmakers, sweepstakes and lotteries was prohibited in Russia from July 1, 2009 everywhere except four special gambling zones - in Kaliningrad region ("Amber"), Altai region ("Siberian coin"), Primorsky region ("Primorye") and Krasnodar region ("Azov City").

The Azov City zone was initially located on the border of the Rostov region and the Krasnodar region. At the beginning of 2010, the first casino opened, and in the middle of the same year, the Kuban authorities initiated the transfer of the entire gambling zone to the Anapa region; in 2011, the Russian government excluded the Rostov region from the list of regions where gambling can be played. Now there are two investor companies working in Azov City.

Investments of the Royal Time Group in the development of a complex of facilities under the Oracle brand have already amounted to more than 3.4 billion rubles. After the adoption in July 2014 of a law allowing the opening of gambling establishments in Crimea and on the territory of the Olympic venues in the Krasnodar Territory, this investor froze the implementation of three more projects totaling 14 billion rubles.

The Shambhala company owns a complex with an area of 19 thousand square meters. m for 1.2 billion rubles. In April 2016, a law was passed proposing to extend the Azov City gambling zone in Krasnodar region until January 1, 2019. After this it will be liquidated.

"Siberian coin"

The decree of the Russian government on the creation of the Siberian Coin gambling zone in the Altai Territory was signed on February 12, 2008, and the first facility, the Altai Palace casino, held a technical opening in November 2014.

So far it's single object, operating in the Altai gambling zone. According to regional administration on tourism, resort business, interregional and international relations, the casino brings in the planned volumes of income (about 75 million rubles since November 2014 - TASS note). The first investor in a gambling zone in Altai plans further development investment sites - in the near future he intends to start building a ski slope, a water park and an additional slot hall.

Currently, two investors are registered in the zone - the first company, Alti, according to the relevant department, has fully fulfilled its obligations under the investment agreement. The second company, RTG-Siberia, intends to enter the site at the beginning of 2017 and complete the construction of four multifunctional entertainment complexes in 2019. The amount of declared investments for this project is 1.1 billion rubles.

By 2019, the construction of 15 casinos, 10 large gambling and entertainment complexes in 30 hotels, designed for 3 thousand simultaneous accommodations, is planned on 2.3 thousand hectares of the Siberian Coin. The total cost of the project, according to preliminary estimates, will be about 30 billion rubles. For 11 months of 2016, the only Altai casino was visited by more than 27.3 thousand people, while for the whole of 2015 - about 20 thousand people.

"Primorye"

The largest and most technically equipped casino in Russia was opened in 2015 in the integrated entertainment zone "Primorye" near Vladivostok. During the year of operation, the Tigre de Cristal entertainment complex was visited by more than 200 thousand people, and the number of international flights to the region tripled.

From October 2015 to October 2016, the budget of the Primorsky Territory received 130 million rubles in taxes on gambling activities.

Tigre de Cristal's investor, G1 Entertainment, plans to invest $500 million in the second phase of the project and build a facility with an area of 100 thousand square meters. square meters, including from 400 to 500 hotel rooms, shopping mall, food court, restaurants and bars, conference and banquet facilities, spa. There are also plans to build additional parking areas, and the possibility of building a golf course is being considered.

In December last year, the second investor of this gambling zone, Naga Corp Ltd, also began construction of the first facility - a hotel and entertainment complex with the Mayak casino; the first stage of the facility is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018. The Chinese corporation Guowei Caifu, the owner of the Beauty Crown Grand-Tree Hotel in Sanya, also announced their intentions to build facilities on the territory of the gambling zone. In addition to gambling facilities, an exhibition and exposition center for major international events at the level of the Eastern Economic Forum may appear in the Primorye resort; plans for the construction of such a facility in the region were previously announced by representatives of the PRC Entrepreneurs Association.

The infrastructure of the entertainment zone is created at the expense of the regional budget. It is expected that the project will be implemented in three stages, the last one will be completed in 2022. By the time the zone reaches its design capacity, up to 15 thousand new jobs will be created in direct employment alone, and up to 30 thousand people will be employed in related industries.

"Yantarnaya" in Kaliningrad

The Kaliningrad gambling zone is developing slower than all others; only in April 2016 the first establishment was opened here - the Magic Cristal slot machine hall. It includes two halls with 150 slot machines, bars and a VIP room. The establishment told TASS that the hall continues to operate around the clock, 7 days a week, without specifying the daily number of visitors.

On December 27, 2016, the technical start of work was given for the second establishment of the Kaliningrad gambling zone - the Sobranie casino, the investor company Uni Management told TASS. The operating company of this project is Uni Gaming Company LLC; permission to carry out gambling activities has already been received. “The technical period is necessary to build processes and train staff directly on the job,” explained a representative of Uni Management, adding that the date of the official opening of the casino will be announced later. "Casino Sobranie is one of the largest casinos on the European continent, its total area is 18 thousand sq. meters.

As previously reported, the total area of the gambling zone is more than 99 hectares. It is planned to build a number of other facilities with a gambling component here. The declared volume of investment in the project is 45 billion rubles until 2029. The regional government reported that all work on the development of Yantannaya is being carried out according to schedule. The Uni Management company also noted that plans for the development of the gambling zone have not changed.

Sochi and Crimea - two new gambling zones

The order on the creation of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone was published on August 19 on the official Internet portal of legal information. The gambling zone will be located in the mountain cluster of Sochi on an area of 165 thousand square meters. m on land plots previously presented for the location of Olympic facilities, the financing and construction of which was not carried out at the expense of budgetary funds or funds of the state corporation "Olympstroy". The opening of a casino will help solve the problem of loading the resort during the off-season. This opinion was expressed earlier at the presentation of the Sochi Casino and Resort project by the adviser to the head Federal agency for tourism (Rosturizm) Evgeniy Kudelya.

“Over the past few years, the tourist flow has increased significantly, and in summer and winter the demand for holidays in the Russian Federation and, in particular, in Sochi is very high. But such facilities will help seriously solve another problem - the problem of the off-season. Because, despite that Sochi is the most popular and one of the most best resorts, we have an off-season curve and we need to smooth it out,” Kudelya noted.

On July 23, 2014, President Vladimir Putin signed the law on a gambling zone in the territory of the Republic of Crimea. By expert assessments, the Crimean budget can receive up to 25 billion rubles per year from the new gambling zone. In June 2016, the Crimean government determined the boundaries of the future zone, placing it on the territory of the village of Gaspra near Yalta (area - 16.8 hectares).

According to the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, the project has a private investor, and so far there have been no refusals from businesses to implement it. The Crimean authorities do not name the investor who wants to develop a gambling zone on the peninsula due to sanctions from the West. The gambling zone should appear in Crimea before 2019.

The gambling zone "Krasnaya Polyana" launches a new casino "Boomerang" at the Rosa Khutor resort

Domain LLC, the official operator of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone, announces the opening of a new, third gambling establishment - the Boomerang casino. After the signing of the government order on August 10, 2016, in Krasnaya Polyana, on the territory of the all-season and mountain resort “Gorki Gorod”, the first casino, “Sochi Casino”, opened in January 2017, and in December 2017, the “Bonus” slot machine hall. New project gambling zone is located on the territory of Rosa Khutor, a world-class year-round mountain resort.

“Boomerang” is a modern casino of a democratic format, offering players a complex of 204 slot machines, 20 tables for playing American roulette and card games, regular draws and three-level jackpots. The free and dynamic style of the establishment is emphasized by the functional interior; during the day you can relax here in a cozy, intimate atmosphere, high-quality sound and exclusive dance shows in the evenings they create a club atmosphere.

The casino is conceptually aimed at a youth audience (age 26-45): tourists and visitors to the Rosa Khutor resort, foreign guests, lovers of entertainment and games in general, who come for a whole pool of gaming and entertainment offers.

The minimum bets in “Boomerang” are comparable to “Casino Sochi”: from 10 kopecks. on slot machines, from 2 USD* on roulette (a daily promotion with minimum rate 1 USD), from 10 USD on card tables. *1 USD (internal casino currency) = 70 rub.

Domain LLC is developing the idea of a single gambling zone: it will be launched in the very near future general system benefits and privileges for all gambling establishments in Krasnaya Polyana. A Casino Sochi player will be able to visit the Boomerang casino and the Bonus slot hall, maintaining his status in the club system and accumulating points.

“We deliberately offer a wide range of entertainment for every taste and expect that the number of our guests will increase, because everyone will find a format of recreation to their liking,” comments Dmitry Anfinogenov, development director of the Krasnaya Polyana gambling zone. – The Boomerang Casino Entertainment Center is a large-scale project that is being developed in stages. Initially, the first floor will be opened, where casino and buffet services will be presented. In the future, the company plans to open a sports bar on the ground floor, an a la carte restaurant and a night club on the second floor. It is possible to create karaoke and organize additional VIP zones for games in the second floor area. There is a mini-hotel complex in the tower of the building. These are our plans for the future, and as we develop Entertainment Center will work fully as a single organism.”

The grand opening of the Boomerang casino is scheduled for January 4. Guests will be treated to a grandiose show program: street concerts by ESTRADARADA and QUEST PISTOLS SHOW and a raffle of 3 million rubles. Also prepared for players are unusual new Year gifts, including money. Representatives of the Sochi city administration, representatives of the business community and the media are expected to attend the opening ceremony.