Plans to condense gambling in Russia to four areas are deteriorating due to the global economic downturn, according to USA Today.
Last year a bill passed in Russia’s parliament to shut down casinos in major cities across the country by the summer. The plan for industry members was to close Moscow and St. Petersburg casinos by July and create four gambling areas, including plans to construct a whole Vegas-like city near the Azov Sea.
“It's just not going anywhere fast,” Joseph Weinert, Spectrum Gaming Group’s senior vice president, told USA Today. "The clock is ticking, and as far as we can tell there is going to be no gambling in these (planned resorts) come July 1.”