MOSCOW, July 3 (RAPSI) - First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has instructed the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Economic Development and the Ministry of Justice to look into the possibility of legalizing online poker, Kommersant reports this Wednesday citing government sources.

Igor Shuvalov’s representatives confirmed that the instructions had been given with a deadline of July 21. A source familiar with the discussion said that the Government is considering the issue upon request from the Poker Union. President of the union Kakha Kakhiani confirmed that he had appealed to the Finance Ministry and the Government following the successful performance of Russian players in international competitions.

A source familiar with the opinions of supporters of legalized online poker reported that, if approved, the initiative would bring additional revenue to the budget in the amount of 2 to 3 billion rubles in the first year (1 to 1.5 billion rubles in tax on operators and the same amount in income tax on players). The cash inflow could exceed 5 billion rubles within three to four years.

In October 2013, Director General of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center Valery Fyodorov said that Russians do not tend to associate poker with other gambling activities. Polls indicate that 42% of Russians agree that poker is an intellectual game while 25% disagreed. Some 85% of online users believe that poker is intellectual. Generally, as many as 52% respondents said that people should have the right to play poker while 24% were against it. The right to play poker is supported by 84% of online users.

Poker used to be a sport in Russia, according to an October 2007 decree by the Federal Sports Agency. In June 2009, the Ministry of Sports excluded poker from the national sports registry and qualified it as gambling after many poker clubs turned out to be illegal casinos.