Moscow casino employees hit by new law offered work - official
Moscow authorities have offered alternative employment to gambling industry employees who were made jobless after a new law came into force on July 1, a labor official told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
All gambling establishments in Russia have been ordered to cease operations in accordance with the government`s decision to clamp down on the industry. The closures went ahead despite a strong lobby against the Kremlin campaign.
"Everyone who wanted to secure a job was offered a position. Most people in the sphere, except for rare professions like croupiers, were security guards and waiters," said Oleg Netrebsky, the head of Moscow`s Labor and Employment Department.
He also said that at a job fair for newly-unemployed gambling industry employees organized by the department in mid-June more than 3,000 out of 4,500 visitors had found new work.
Despite reports that the new law had caused a mass wave of unemployment, the department is aware of only 12,000 people who lost their jobs on July 1, Netrebsky added.
Under a 2007 law, casinos and other gaming establishments are to be relocated to four far-flung designated areas - in the Baltic exclave Kaliningrad, south Siberia`s Altai territory, Primorye in the Far East, and in southern Russia. There were about 500 casinos operating in Moscow before the law came into force. Bookmakers and slot-machine arcades have also been hit by the ruling.
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