Will Belarus’ gambling business belong to Lukashenka’s family?

In early October the Belarusian ruler is to hold consultations on gambling business.

According to the results of the consultations, casinos, gambling machines, betting offices and so on are to get under control of firms close to elder sons of Lukashenka, AFN informs with a reference to “Belarusian partisan”.

Today a topic which is actively discussed in Minsk, is how much it cost to an important Russian gambling business owner for a “chance meeting” with Lukashenka in Sochi to be organized for him. Well-informed people say the cost was very high. It’s true, one can pay millions to become one of the chosen, to whom the Belarusian state would entrust the Belarusian gambling business and online casinos, which are simply forbidden in many countries by the way.

Until recently mostly arms dealers were those who could boast of global scale and skills to organize deals which are forbidden. And now they are those who promote the new conception of state regulation in the sphere of gambling. “Beltekhexport” firm was so interested in the new kind of business, that the new concept note which was offered to Prime Minister Syarhei Sidorski was signed by its director Uladzimir Peftsieu. It is absolutely clear form the document that Peftsieu wants to turn the gambling business into a private business of a few influential families of Belarus… and Italy.

“The ideology of redistribution” is simple: a wide financial section – gambling tables, gambling machines, betting offices – remains outside the total control of the state. In Belarus there are 39 casinos, 356 slot-machine parlors, 172 betting offices, but all of them work in a decentralized way. Real income of these enterprises hides from the “all-seeing eye”, so the situation should be changed. It is interesting however that it is not planned to make redistribution in favour of the state or some government institution, but in favour of two unpretentious firms, “Sport-pari” (Belarus) and GTECH (US).

“Sport-pari” closed joint-stock society was registered in Belarus two years ago (September 6, 2007) with the aim to “promote newest gambling technologies at the entire territory of Belarus”, the lottery scam Belarusian man in the street has been dragged into, as he hopes for a miracle and crazy winnings.

The company’s shareholders are “Presidential sports club” headed by Lukashenka’s son Dmitry, a private unitary enterprise “SEN-KO” owned by the chairman of the board of “Beltekhexport” shareholders Uladzimir Peftsieu, and a joint Belarusian-British limited company “Delovaya set” (“Beltekhexport” is among its founders as well). According to unofficial reports, “Sport-pari” is a common business of elder sons of Lukashenka, and arms exporters appeared there with the help of the national security adviser Viktar Lukashenka, which is a highly possible version.

The US company GTECH represents an influential family as well. In 2006 it was bought by Italian company Lottomatica at $4.7 billion. In its turn, it is owned by one of the most influential families of Italy, De Agostini. Mass media in Italy know that De Agostini belongs to inner circle of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Napoli’s Prosecutor’s office initiated a case against Silvio Berlusconi a few years ago on corruption charges, and Agostini was among those mentioned in being involved in creation of black funds abroad. One of De Agostini, (Sacca), was asked by Berlusconi to help in provoking governmental crisis, which aim was downfall of Berlusconi’s predecessor, Romano Prodi, and so on. By the way, De Agostini is considered an influential family not only in Italy, but in the US, Western Europe and Vatican. So it is a very good partner for joint business.

The essence of the proposed concept of gambling industry development is the following: to pull all the gambling equipment existing in Belarus though a telecommunications network working online. In other words, to create a special computer cashier system (SCCS) were all the information about money flows (including winnings of gamblers) would be transparent. GTECH and “BT Telecommunicatons” are ready to become founders of the SCCS. (The concrete person it belongs to now is unknown, but it emerged from “Beltekhexport”.)

Then it is offered to keep 2-3 casinos in Minsk, and one casino in region’s capitals, opening many slot-machine parlors around the country, making them a part of the SCCS.

It is offered to issue only one license of a casino and slot-machine parlors’ network founder to the joint venture created by GTECH and a private company “BT Telecommunicatons”. “Sport-pari” is to be responsible for online games and accepting bets from third countries online, for betting offices and totalizators. It means that if this document would be accepted, owners of Belarusian gambling business would be changed with a stroke of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s pen. Casinos are to stand in their places, but they are to go for permissions for their work to owners of licenses, to concrete private persons, who are to be paid as well.

A question suggests itself: why not the Belarusian state would be paid? The answer found by Peftsieu is brilliant: “Gambling business has negative image, so the state shouldn’t participate in gambling as a shareholder”.