With draconian restrictions set to come into force in Russia from 2009, Moscow-based gaming operator Storm International is shifting its focus to emerging markets such as Armenia where the company is set to invest up to US$300m in an ambitious new casino project.

Observers of Russia’s gambling industry have expressed some hope that the Government will come to revise legislation imposing an outright ban on casinos and slot machines in all major Russian cities by mid-2009. However, any prospective change will likely depend on the attitude adopted by the new man set to take up residence in the Kremlin after next Sunday’s elections.

The southern Russian territory of Krasnodar made its bid last week to lure investors to a new casino zone on the Azov Sea. But with glowing architectural models and computer simulations on display, visitors were left pondering how the dream might eventually square with reality.

With just eighteen months to go before the Russian gaming landscape is redrawn according to President Vladimir Putin’s draconian 2006 federal law, business is booming for Russia’s operators. However, would-be investors are delaying their decisions while faced with growing political uncertainty in the four new casino zones that are planned to host the industry’s next stage.

With less than twelve months remaining before the $4.5bn Russian gambling market faces closure or relocation to four remote gambling zones, market players are weighing their diminishing options, according to a new report by Gambling Compliance's research department.

The opening of Russia’s first new casino, in the southern casino zone of Azov City, has been marred by the death of one of the region’s most senior politicians who perished in a car crash while returning from the event.

President Dmitry Medvedev has told senior officials that his government will not contemplate postponing its mandated plans to remove all casinos and slot machine parlours from major Russian cities by July 1, 2009.

Estimates suggest the infrastructure costs of creating Russia’s controversial new gambling zones could dwarf the expenditure already earmarked for the Sochi Olympics in 2014. But while politicians urge that the developments push ahead, there is a marked lack of enthusiasm from private sector investors who fear the locations are too remote.

Sochi’s victory in the race to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games will add significant momentum to the Russian Federal Government's plans for a casino zone in Krasnodar.

An outline plan for one of Russia’s four proposed casino zones has been unveiled by Vladivostok politicians, eager to attract investment from China, Japan, and Korea.