Last week, the State Duma approved in the first reading a bill to create a gambling zone in the Altai Republic. If passed in full, it would become the sixth such zone in Russia. The Finance Ministry said the measure would create jobs and boost tourism, insisting it would not cause negative social or economic effects.
Regional head Andrey Turchak publicly backed the plan. He said the zone could create about 1,000 jobs and bring at least 300 million rubles a year to the regional budget. Public reaction was far colder: on the federal legal acts portal, the draft received 305 negative votes and only seven positive ones, while local Communists and activists from the Altai People’s Kurultai collected nearly 4,000 signatures against it. Even so, the regional parliament approved the measure by 30 votes out of 41.
Turchak said the gambling zone is expected to be located near the Manzherok ski resort in the Mayminsky district, a property owned by Sberbank. The publication links the project to the interests of Sber chief German Gref, who has been developing infrastructure in Altai for wealthy domestic tourists. In 2024, Gref also announced a concession agreement to build a new airport in Gorno-Altaysk, and in January 2026 Turchak said the regulator had approved the project.
Against this backdrop, gambling industry figures are increasingly discussing the possible legalization of online casinos. Sources told the outlet that bookmakers have started hiring developers in large numbers, are no longer shutting down offline outlets, and are looking at new premises in Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to these sources, such sites could later be converted into gambling clubs.
A source close to the gray casino business said their team had been warned about possible legalization back in January 2026. Earlier, Kommersant reported that Finance Minister Anton Siluanov proposed lifting the ban on online casinos if a special regulator were created to transfer 30% of revenue to the budget. The ministry estimated that this could bring the state up to 100 billion rubles a year.
Some lawmakers reacted negatively. Mikhail Delyagin accused the ministry of wanting to “corrupt people,” while Yevgeny Marchenko said the online format would create added risks for children. At the same time, according to Kommersant, deposits at illegal online casinos in Russia already total about $2 billion per month.
Economist Andrei Yakovlev argues that the authorities’ interest in the gambling sector is tied to the need for new revenue amid a budget shortfall. He and a lawyer working with bookmakers point to the new tax rules that took effect on January 1, 2026, under which bookmaker taxes rose 60-fold. In their view, online casino legalization is being considered as another source of budget income.