About thousand people visit daily first casino in Sochi gambling zone

On January 5, Sochi hosted the opening ceremony of the first casino of the new gambling zone "Krasnaya Polyana"; however, the casino is working in test mode since December 24. Officials of the gambling facility and Sochi authorities have announced their ambitious plans related to the development of the gambling zone; while first visitors noted the high price to be paid for participating in gambling, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The casino will employ 1100 persons; and budgets of all levels will receive 500 million roubles per year, Alexander Saurin, Director General of the "Krasnaya Polyana" Company, said at the opening of the facility.

According to casino bosses, the investments into the project made 4 billion roubles; their forecasts say that the number of visitors to the mountain cluster will go up, because of the casino, by 25% in the first full year of operation. On the fifth operation year, bosses plan to bring the annual flow of visitors up to one million.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July 2014 the State Duma approved a bill authorizing the organization of gambling in the territory of the Sochi Olympic facilities, which had been built by private investors. According to Vice-Premier Dmitri Kozak, the gaming zone in the resort city "will ensure additional tourist flows."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.