Penza, 6 June 2012. PenzaNews. The executive authorities of the Penza region have required all responsible agencies and supervisory institutions to start giving “nightmarish” treatment to gambling businesses within the region. Deputy Chairperson of Government and Head of the Control Office of the governor of the Penza region Nikolay Antonov made this announcement during a press conference on Wednesday, June 6.

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“The tax service, the state fire protection agency and law enforcement bodies are to conduct regular inspections of organizations from which gaming machines were previously seized or which people report to have conducted illegal activities. Then the owner and lessee of the premises will start questioning if they should continue to earn from gambling,” he said.

According to Nikolay Antonov, it is only when people start treating gambling the way they treat the distribution of illicit drugs that such activities can be reduced to a minimum.

He also stressed that activities aimed at combating the organization of gambling games and holding infractors of the law legally responsible are actively conducted within the region, albeit with some difficulties.

“Identifying the owner of gaming equipment is often impossible. In cases where it is possible though, the place of registration of the owner company is a remote region of the Russian Federation, for example, Khabarovskiy kray region. By the time a request for information is sent there and the company is checked the time limits for the imposition of administrative liability under the law expire,” Nikolay Antonov added.

15 gaming areas have been closed down and 717 gaming machines have been confiscated in the Penza region since the start of 2012.

“The premises leased by the internal affairs agencies are full of confiscated equipment. To utilize this equipment the gaming machines first have to be recognized as ownerless, which is another problem that needs to be tackled,” Nikolay Antonov said.

“Gambling businesses have to be given “nightmarish” treatment through the joint efforts of the authorities, the public, supervisory institutions and law enforcement bodies. Only then can we achieve significant progress,” he concluded.