Casinos to Be Confined to Special Zones

Many gambling firms could go to the wall once the Kazak authorities ban betting establishments except for two designated areas. NBCentralAsia commentators say the change will provide better regulation and reduce excessive gambling, as long as the change takes place in stages and the government helps the gambling industry to re-brand itself.



Meeting last week, Kazakstan’s Security Council ordered restrictions on gambling to be in place from January. Parliament is currently considering a related bill that would allow casinos to operate only in two special zones – one in the town of Schuchinsk, near the capital Astana, and the other in Kapchagay in the south of the country.



Analysts in Kazakstan say such restrictions are needed because the government has to date failed to exert adequate control over gambling, and has proved impotent to check the growth in addiction to betting.



Kazakstan currently has 132 casinos, over 2,000 arcades and around 23,000 slot machines.



“Young people are getting hooked on undeserved luck,” complained member of parliament Gadilbek Shalahmetov. “They think it’s enough to come to a slot machine or casino table and win. It’s a kind of addiction.”



At the same time, the immediate deadline for making the move could bankrupt most of the gambling establishments and the infrastructure that has built up around them and provides many jobs.



A similar move is under way in Russia, with casinos being moved to four authorised zones. Between three and seven years is being allowed for this, although the industry there is admittedly bigger than Kazakstan’s.



“We believe there are 13,000 people working in the [Kazakstan] business, and several thousand more in the service infrastructure,” said Yury Tleumuratov, an expert on finance and taxation. “They could lose their jobs.”



Tleumuratov says that to avoid this, the government must allow more time for the change-over to take place, and also help gambling businesses build up a new image.



Other experts recommend looking at the risk that illegal gambling will spring up to satisfy the demand that clearly exists. Countries that have either imposed geographical restrictions on gambling or have banned it altogether could offer some valuable lessons.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)