Publication date: 17 October 2024
The Russian gambling market, which currently exists in the form of legal gambling zones, shows steady growth and positive changes in performance every year. According to the Association of Gaming Industry and Event Tourism Operators (AIRIS), in 2024 the performance of gambling clusters significantly increased both in terms of the number of visits and financial results. In the new material on 3S.INFO we told about each gambling zone, its indicators for the last few years and analyzed the factors contributing to such a noticeable progress of the gambling industry as a whole.
- By the way, betting companies in Russia are absolutely legal and can operate online after obtaining a license. The 3SNET network has prepared a list of betting offers of legal (“CUPIS”) bookmakers in Russia.
Legal Casinos in Russia: Gambling Zones
Gambling has been legalized in Russia, but casinos are only allowed to operate offline and in specific locations. As of 2024, there are still 4 legal gambling zones operating in the country and one more is planned to open.
“Siberian Coin” in Altay is the leader in terms of visits
According to AIRIS data, the gambling cluster “Siberian Coin” in recent years has shown leading indicators and a noticeable increase in visitors. Back in 2021 the figures were 39,419 people, in 2023 – 50,770 people, and in 2024 the increase was already more than 135,047 people – that’s +243%!
This increased interest is attributed to the revision of the concept and positioning for visitors of the gaming zone itself. In addition to casinos, the clusters began to actively build entertainment centers, concert halls, sports areas, hotels and restaurants, adding entertainment programs and a poster of events. This trend has transformed the gaming zone into a tourist center that has greatly expanded its funnel to attract users of all ages and genders. Even last year, the casino zone itself doubled in size as the flow of visitors increased significantly.
Currently, the cluster is focused on the construction of new facilities for entertainment, leisure, active and gambling recreation, and the volume of attracted investments is more than 6 billion roubles.
The list of already constructed objects includes SPA zone, complex zone with chalets, 2 restaurants with swimming pools and a medical center. The plan for the next years (2024-2026) is to build ski slopes with rental, a premium segment apartment hotel, a cinema, a 25-meter swimming pool and to expand the park area.
“Primorye” Entertainment Zone, Vladivostok
In 2022, the flow of foreign visitors decreased significantly due to difficulties with air transportation, but the cluster revised its concept and adapted it to domestic players (87% of the total number of guests). A few statistics from AIRIS on the number of visitors: in 2022 – 121,142 people, in 2024 – already 181,784 people.
Despite the big scandal of illegally recruiting PRC users to play casino games in 2021, the zone continues to operate successfully.
In 2024, two casinos, Tigre de Cristal and Shambhala, are operating in the gaming zone. The construction of another casino project Naga Vladivostok was also started, which attracted Asian investors, but the construction was suspended in 2022 for geopolitical reasons. Today, new investors from the People’s Republic of China have found new investors for this unfinished project, and work has resumed and should be completed by 2028. In addition to the casinos themselves, the tourism concept is also gaining popularity. The Asia-Invest Group and the non-profit joint stock company “Shambhala” are actively building hotels. The projects are scheduled to be completed by 2028. In 2023 a number of agreements will be signed to build a golf club and an entertainment zone on the territory of the gaming cluster. More than 60 billion roubles of investments have been attracted for all the projects.
The executive director of Tigre de Cristal Casino, Stelios Tsifetakis, said in May 2024 that the portrait of the average player has changed over the years. The percentage of women in the casino has increased to 36%, but the advantage also remains with men in the 30-50 age group.
“Yantarnaya” Gambling Zone in Kaliningrad
Indicators for 2021-22 here also dropped by about 20%. The reason for this is the closure of the borders and a decrease in the flow of foreign tourists and gamblers to the region. But by 2024, this indicator of SOBRANIE casino has changed significantly due to the development of domestic tourism and amounted to about 160 thousand people in the first half of the year.
Here slowly but surely continues the construction of the second casino “Shambala”, which began in 2022. Recall that this project is the Russian prototype of the casino ENCORE WYNN, which is located in Las Vegas. The opening of two gambling tents has already been realized, which will be modernized after the opening of the main building.
The casino also uses additional methods of user engagement: concerts, show programs, musical evenings and guest stars. In addition, the cluster is actively involved in the internal PR campaign of the Kaliningrad region in general, calling it the largest European casino.
“Krasnaya Polyana – the capital of poker tournaments
The gambling zone in Sochi includes 2 casinos and a slot machine hall. Despite huge plans and great development potential, the cluster was visited by 23% fewer users in 2022 than in 2021. This is due to geopolitical reasons, the closure of the usual communication routes, which increased the flight time and the road to “Krasnaya Polyana”. However, by the first half of 2024, the figure is quite optimistic, reaching 452,323 people (according to AIRIS).
In this context, the casino management decided to attract the users by developing a tourist destination on the territory of the casino. Plans for 2025 include the construction of a park, a museum, a new arena, and a children’s center, with investments totaling about 10 billion roubles. This decision will significantly increase the amount of non-gaming revenues to invest in further complex development.
The casino is also expanding its presence in the market by holding poker tournaments and festivals (the next one – October Poker Fest – starts on October 17 and will last until April 27, 2025. This year will also see the Phoenix Poker Tour in November, Russian Poker Championship and SPF Grand Final in December), which attract a large enough audience and have excellent potential for the future. The poster for 2024 includes 12+ events and the annual prize pool is over 7 million roubles.
There is also a slight change in the player profile: there are 16% more women playing. This statistic was shared by Natalia Voldaeva, CEO of Krasnaya Polyana Casino.
“Golden Coast” moved to the port of Yalta
Initially, the Crimean gambling zone under the name “Golden Coast” was to begin construction in 2021 in the village of Katsiveli, where a large-scale project was being prepared for approval. However, in 2024 a new location was announced and corresponding amendments were made to the current legislation (previously the law prohibited the location of gambling zones on the territory of settlements, the new amendments will come into force in 2025). The casino is planned to be built on the territory of the passenger terminal in the sea port of Yalta.
At the moment the investors are working on the registration of all permits and documents for the construction and the final design of the complex itself. The project has attracted more than 3 billion investments.
How much money do casinos make in Russia?
It is noteworthy that due to the development of tourism each of the operating gambling zones makes a significant contribution to the state budget. For example, according to AIRIS, in the first quarter of 2024 tax transfers from gambling clusters amounted to 731.3 million roubles. These are currently record amounts in relation to previous periods (in the corresponding period of 2023 the amount was 8.4% less, and for the first quarter of 2022 it was 11.6% less). For the first half of 2024 the amount has already reached more than 1.3 billion tax roubles (5.2% more than for the first half of 2023).
The absolute record holder in this list for the amount of taxes paid for the first half of 2024 is the “Krasnaya Polyana” gaming cluster (more than 765 million roubles).
It is important to note that each zone is a strategic object for the region where it is located. It directly affects the economic development of the region, creates additional jobs and is a point of attraction for a large number of gamblers and tourists.
Illegal gambling in Russia
We would like to remind you once again that on the territory of Russia casino activity is prohibited everywhere except in special gambling zones. Nevertheless, illegal online casinos are very popular among domestic gamblers and are a great competition for the legal business. According to the Unified Gambling Regulator, only over 47 thousand sites with illegal gambling and betting were blocked in the first half of 2024. Over the past 3 years, the regulator has tracked and blocked about 147 thousand banned sites. Meanwhile, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the revenues from illegal gambling business amount to more than 300 billion roubles.
In 2024, the number of financial transactions in favor of the shadow gambling industry in Russia has increased. The Central Bank is taking the initiative to block transfers to companies operating illegally. Elena Sheikina, CEO of the Mobile Card service, noted that from 2022 there will be a significant increase in the volume of p2p transfers, which appear as transfers between private individuals. This sharp increase in payments is due to the fact that applications of such game companies cannot be restricted in the App Store and Google Play. In order to address this issue, a special group has been created that includes employees of the Central Bank, Roskomnadzor, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance, MinTsifry, and the Association of Banks of Russia. Its main task is to identify and block illegal transactions using existing resources and developing new ones.
Roskomnadzor also has a list of banned domain names related to illegal casinos. Therefore, banks are prohibited from making financial transactions to the accounts of companies on this list.
According to Dilyara Vasilieva, Deputy Director of the Unified Gambling Regulator Development, the company has been asking for several years to expand its powers and capabilities to work autonomously. The goal is to identify illegal platforms, add them to the register of banned resources and transfer data about such a site to block Roskomnadzor.
What will happen with Russian gambling in 2025?
The development plan for legalized gambling zones in Russia is transparent and clear. It is a matter of budget and time, which can be extended in case of lack of investments. Nevertheless, the potential is huge, given the expansion of the pool of services and the diversity of territories. In the coming years, gaming zones will grow due to the development of non-gaming services (hotels, entertainment centers, sports facilities, children’s centers within gaming clusters) and the development of domestic tourism in general.
The fight against the illegal gambling business will continue and become tougher:
On June 22, 2024, a new law came into force that will accelerate the fight against illegal mirror sites (copies of well-known online casinos). Roskomnadzor has been given the authority to block access to these sites independently, without the involvement of the Mintsifry. The blocking process will take place without a preliminary court hearing and will be carried out within two days. Amendments to the Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information” will also enter into force on October 1, 2024.
The process of dealing with drops also complicates the life of the shadow gambling business. For example, the major Russian banks (“T-bank” and “VTB”) have developed and implemented special programs for monitoring drops in 2024. According to Oleg Zamiralov (Head of CEM of T-bank), the software allows to detect potential dropers before they make payment transactions. Over the past year, this system has reduced the number of drop accounts by half (about 130 thousand such accounts were blocked). Other major Russian banks are now working on a similar system.
The fight against the shadow economy will be further intensified, since a large part of the financial resources received from the shadow economy do not enter the state budget and evade the country’s tax system. It will be more difficult for a Russian player to play in an illegal casino. First of all, it will affect the ability to place a bet or withdraw money to your account. However, despite all the difficulties, the gambling market in Russia annually increases its demand, expands the target audience, meets the needs of users not only for excitement, but also for quality leisure and recreation.
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