‘Yekaterinburg gambling market is experiencing a dramatic decrease in the number of players, which largely has to do with the fact that new amendments to the gambling regulation law come into force on July 1, 2007,’ says President of Ural Gambling Business Development Association Alexei Galaguzov.

‘There were 360 amusement arcades in the city last year but only 260 at the beginning of 2007, and the number will probably have dropped down to 120 or 130 by July 1, 2007. As regards casinos, there will be no more than six of them operating in Yekaterinburg,’ he reports.

‘Quite a few gamblers are not planning to close down until July, even though they are looking into the ways of cooperating with the large federal players in order to reorganize the business.’

The new gambling regulation law says any gambling dens with area of less than 100 square meters will have to be closed down on July 1, 2007. Yekaterinburg Consumer Services Committee says this will make 64 places close down, with five of them not operating already.