Communist leaders in the Kremlin used to pour scorn on Las Vegas as the last word in US decadence, but now the Russian leadership is pouring billions of dollars into a gigantic gambling and entertainment strip in Vladivostok. Roulette tables will soon be relieving gamblers of their money in the easternmost corner of the huge country.
The leadership around President Vladimir Putin has decided to invest some 2.5 billion dollars in this "Las Vegas on the Pacific," as Russian media refer to it, about 7,000 kilometres from Moscow. Most of the well-heeled punters are expected to come from Russia's Far Eastern neighbours, many of them just two hours by plane away.
While the Kremlin appears to be targeting a perceived love of gambling in the region, others in Russia are warning that organised crime could use the special zone for money laundering. The critics also caution against the hazards of gambling addiction. Only three years ago, Putin was raging against the evils of gambling, which he described as coming second only to alcohol in the damage caused to society.
Casinos across the country were shut down, with four special zones opened up for games of chance. They were in the north-west on the Baltic Sea, in the south-west on the Sea of Azov that flows into the Black Sea, in the Altai Mountains near the borders with China and Mongolia, and near Vladivostok on the Pacific.
By 2016 at the latest, the roulette wheel will be spinning in 12 casinos along the shores of Ant Bay on the Pacific near Vladivostok. International firms are bidding to provide the infrastructure, such as NagaCorp and Las Vegas Sands. Many residents in the region some 50 kilometres north-east of the port of Vladivostok are vehemently opposed to the planned special zone. "Gambling means the mafia and crime," an internet commentator who goes by the name of Artjom says.
Another commentator, Alex, notes: "Here there is a lot of nature, but after the casinos are built, our children will no longer be able to play here." Advertising prospectuses show the bay as a picturesque recreation ground. The Russian plans are part of a trend in the Far East. Huge gambling zones have been created in Singapore, Macao and Japan in recent years, with Cambodia and Vietnam set to follow.
The booming gambling sector aims to double its income in the Pacific region to 80 billion dollars by 2015. That would surpass gambling profits in the United States, the current leader, which are projected to reach 75 billion dollars in the same year. "Vladivostok is luring companies with huge tax rebates, but gambling has always been accompanied by dirty money," says Mark Galeotti, a New York University professor of global affairs and international crime expert.
For the Kremlin, the special gaming zone at Ant Bay is part of a huge subsidy programme for the Far East. For years, Vladivostok was a closed city as the headquarters of the Soviet Pacific Fleet. Now Putin aims to halt the decline in the city's population by means of investments totalling 100 billion dollars. In September, the city hosted the 24th summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum (Apec), which was preceded by large investments in infrastructure and a new university. Not far away is the planned new Russian spaceport at Vostochny Cosmodrome, where 8 billion dollars in investments are due.
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