Azov-City employees petition for preserving the gambling zone

More than 1,000 people signed a petition in support of Azov-City gambling zone. According to them, closing the complex will leave many people with no jobs and the region's budget will lose a noticeable part of taxes.

Decision to remove the casino complex Azov-City was made because of the Sochi Casino and Resort opening. Both zones are located in the same region, which is not allowed by the law. Meanwhile, according to the founder of one of the casinos near Azov, Maxim Smolentsev, the two resorts do not compete and have different audiences. His words were confirmed by Paul Edwards (Sochi Casino and Resort): he stated in the press that they do not see Azov-City as a competitor. Gambling zones investors in the Krasnodar Territory are convinced that both complexes should be preserved.

Maxim Smolentsev initiated an open letter to Vladimir Putin, in which he talks about the lack of jobs in the Yeysk and Scherbinovsky districts of the Krasnodar Territory.

According to different estimates, today up to 20,000 people are registered as unemployed in the region, most of them in rural areas and regional centers. The gambling zone provides jobs for over 2.500 people. The author of the letter also notes that in two quarters of 2017, 254,800 guests visited Azov-City and tax revenues from the complex equal 1.52 billion in 8 years. Failure to receive such a tax amount will affect regional budget, not to mention compensations to investors – about 10 billion rubles.

The letter was signed by employees of the gambling zone and their relatives, over a thousand people in total. "Losing our jobs is a disaster for us," they say.

Saving both zones is possible only by making changes in the existing legislation.

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