Azov City liquidation is unfavorable for government

David Bagiyan, deputy director at Shambala, is sure about that. According to him, government investments in establishing the gambling zone have been already compensated, and all tax liabilities bring profit from this year.

Located in the north of the Krasnodar Territory, the Azov City gambling zone with its three casinos, including Shambala, should stop operating up to January 1, 2019.

It is the requirement of the legislation, prohibiting regions to have more than one gambling territory. The second gambling zone has been established in Kuban by the decision of authorities: Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi.

Azov City residents believe that its liquidation is economically unviable. According to David Bagiyan, the government has invested around one billion rubles in the project, and these investments have returned to the budget by means of taxes. Currently, the country obtains profit from casinos and hotels, estimated at approximately 250 million rubles per year.

“The country has few of projects that have fully returned all government investments within six years. Now is a time when the government can earn on this project,” David Bagiyan says.

He also stressed that the provision of the law, constituting grounds for closing the Azov City, did not prevent this zone from expanding due to the territory, being several hundred kilometers away from it.