The Krasnodar region announced Monday that it would hold auctions for land plots in the planned Azov-City gambling center on July 1. The gaming center, located on the border of the Krasnodar and Rostov regions along the Azov Sea, was created late last year as one of four national zones where the country's gambling industry would have to move after a ban comes into effect for the rest of the country on July 1, 2009.

The construction of Azov City, a city in the style of Las Vegas to be developed in the South of Russia, will be iniciated in 2009, according to the Administration of Krasnodar region. “The main investment agreements will be signed in the following months, and the construction will begin the following year", says the press release issued by regional authorities.

Russia’s Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov inked a ruling to set up a gambling zone, Azov-City, in the Scherbinovsky district of Krasnodar area and the Azov district of Rostov region, the RF government’s press service reported. The gambling zone will extend to 20.022 million sq meters, covering a portion of the Krasnodar area and the Rostov region in southern Russia.