Russia's casinos to close, thousands lose jobs

"This is a dead unrealistic idea," said Samuel Binder, deputy executive director at the Russian Association for Gaming Business Development, an independent monitor.

"It's preposterous to think these replacements could be up and running soon... Even those who have investments for gaming have realised they'd rather take their money elsewhere in the ex-Soviet Union or to Latin America."

LAID-OFF WORKERS

Tilley, a 50-year-old Briton who has been in the casino business for 30 years, will take some staff with him to Montenegro where he will set up post-Moscow. His luxury hotel partnerships in Russia will also suffer, he said.

"Finding a job is all we think about. Especially with this crisis on," a security guard in his early 30s at a Moscow gaming hall said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Unemployment in Russia is already at an eight-year high and industry bodies estimate 300-350,000 jobs are at risk.

Deputy Moscow mayor Sergei Baidakov says only 11,500 workers will become unemployed across the country, half of them in the capital. Those laid-off will find work in the restaurants and shops that will fill the spaces left by the gambling establishments, he said.

"The damage to the health of people and society would be a far greater figure than the money lost in the budget (from gaming taxes)," Baidakov told Reuters. Russia's gaming industry brings in up to $7 billion a year and pays $1 billion in taxes.

A 42-year-old Muscovite gambler, stuffing a 500 rouble (9.70 pound) note into a slot machine in a smoky hall, said he will miss his passion: "I've played every day for five years."