MOSCOW, July 23 (RAPSI) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on establishing gambling areas in Crimea and Kuban. The new law has already been published on the official legal website.

Gambling casinos were banned in Russia on July 1, 2009, with the exception of specifically designated areas. Currently, there is one gambling area, on the border of the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region. Three more areas are being built, one each in the Kaliningrad Region, the Altai and the Primorye territories.

In Crimea, which joined Russia after a referendum in March, the gambling business was banned until now.

According to the law, regional officials will define the development limits and location of the Crimean gambling zone. Officials had previously announced that the gambling area would be spread across the peninsula. Alternatively, a Las Vegas-like development could be built in the resort area on the subtropical southern shore near Yalta and Alushta.

The gambling areas in the Krasnodar Territory could be located on the land provided for the Olympic facilities that were not built by Olimpstroy. In this scenario, the development limits of the Kuban gambling area would be defined by the government based on proposals from local officials.