The gambling zone due to be created on the Crimean peninsula close to the resort city of Yalta will trigger interest among foreign tourists, Crimean Prime Minister, Sergey Aksyonov, told TASS.
"(The gambling zone will be meant for) guests mostly. Including foreign visitors," the peninsula’s premier said. Aksyonov noted that the Crimean authorities are ready to offer investors certain ‘game plan’ strategies that will make it possible to bypass sanctions in implementing this project.
"There are certain arrangements that will make it possible to bypass the sanctions. I will keep quiet about such secrets for now. Nobody would agree to invest in this project, if there were doubts this plan might not work," he stated.
The Crimean premier added that construction and assembly work in Yalta’s Zhemchuzhina health resort will begin later this year.
On July 23, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on establishing a gambling zone in Crimea. It should appear on the Black Sea peninsula by 2019. Aksyonov said earlier that a large Russian company is ready to invest about 8 billion rubles ($138 million) in the creation of Crimea’s gambling zone. According to expert estimates, the regional budget will be able to receive up to 25 million rubles per year from the would-be gaming industry. In June 2016, the Crimean government defined the boundaries of the future zone, placing it in the locality of Gaspra.