Lukashenko orders a crackdown on gambling ads: “The country has turned into a casino”
President Alexander Lukashenko has ordered a further review of the gambling industry and its advertising in Belarus, Belta reported.
“Whatever you call them — ‘spin the goose’ — you have hung these ads everywhere,” he said. “It has even got to the point, apparently, that my family is supposed to be behind it. My family… I am harassed over this every day. They are at me to pay attention. Look at what is going on: the whole country is spinning that goose. Dmitry Nikolaevich” — Dmitry Krutoy, head of the Presidential Administration — “take this seriously.”
“What is this?” he added. “We have online casinos, casinos in general, and the rest. I have already lost track of the terms.”
Krutoy replied: “Everything is regulated, Comrade President.”
“It may be regulated, but the country has turned into a casino,” Lukashenko said. “These Fonbets” — a bookmaker operating in Belarus — “and the rest.”
He then turned to Vasily Gerasimov, chairman of the State Control Committee: “It has gone so far that you have had to bring some of them to their senses. They write to me: we are losing such-and-such. And they send this nonsense, as if they were going to invest in some ‘serious’ areas we do not need at all. And they name a figure: losses of about $500 million.”
“That is a lie,” Gerasimov said.
“Then look at the turnover involved,” the president replied. “There must be no departure from the interests of the state. And pay attention to these Fonbets and the casinos. Yes, they pay something somewhere. That does not mean the whole country should be hung and draped — especially under Kukharev,” (Minsk Mayor Vladimir Kukharev), “with these posters and this advertising. Ours is a clean, beautiful country for the people. Well, some of this is probably not for the people. As his control checks show, huge sums are leaving the state.”
“I know you have taken this problem on,” Lukashenko told Gerasimov. “Bring in the right people so that we have not just a complete picture, but a decision. We should not rush at this money everywhere.”