The old story about Roman emperor Nero fiddling while his city burned to the floor possesses mythic quality that could be used to Vladimir Putin these days. Dealing with an international scandal after Russia’s seeming involvement in shooting a Malaysia Air passenger jet out of the sky, the Russian president has chosen now to okay a new gambling area in Crimea; a small region just to the south of Ukraine, where the horrific incident took place the other day.

Of course, unlike Nero, Putin continues to be firmly in charge of all things Russian, and has now borne the brunt of surprisingly little outrage that is international the incident which was allegedly carried out under his military’s auspices.

Putin signed into impact a legislation this week which will transform the territory that is annexed of into a gambling zone for Russian holidaymakers. In the light of recent events in Eastern Ukraine, Putin, faced with all the prospect of increased US/EU sanctions, could perhaps have selected a more moment that is apposite make this specific announcement, but he’s nothing if not bull-headed, and it’s really clear he is determined to make the region economically self-sufficient.

Russia took over the territory that is largely russian-speaking the Ukraine in March, following a referendum on its status that your US and EU consider to be illegitimate. Western states will not recognize Crimea’s reunification with Russia, while Ukraine continues to claim it included in its territory.

The area had a economy that is struggling before the territorial dispute, and experts estimate Crimea may run a fiscal deficit of 55 billion rubles ($1.5 billion) this season. It’s thought that Russia could spend just as much as $2.8 billion of its emergency budget reserves subsidizing Crimea.

What goes on in Crime Stays in Crimea

This makes the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down by Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of all 298 people on board, all the more embarrassing and frustrating for the elected president, who’s anxious to encourage tourism into the Crimean Peninsula. The region has been a traditional destination for summer vacationers and there are obvious and legitimate concerns that political troubles will keep them at bay with its Black Sea resorts and Mediterranean climate.

Russia happens to be wanting to entice tourists with promotions and assurances of safety, such as visa-free travel to the Crimea for Chinese site visitors, and has now been offering incentives to state companies for treating their employees to free vacations in the region.

The new Crimean gambling area will consist of casino resorts and hotels that would form section of a special financial area, offering tax breaks for businesses who choose to develop and invest in the region. Russia currently has four designated ‘gambling areas,’ that have been produced five years back after an authoritarian ‘anti-vice’ crackdown that shut down scores of gambling enterprises and poker groups across the nation. Operators were forced to more remote areas associated with country, away from big cities, or pursue various professions.

Into the areas

The areas were established in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, between Poland and Lithuania; Altai, on the Kazakhstan border; and Vladivostok near the edges with China and North Korea. a fourth, in Russia’s Krasnodar territory, lies near to Crimea and the Black Sea and enjoys a flourishing economy and tourist trade, also as having the only presently operational full-scale casino resort, Azov City. According to reports in the Russian media, the new law will extend this zone to cover the city of Sochi, the host of this year’s Winter Olympics, with recommendations that casino resorts will likely be built round the Olympic Village.

The decision to legalize casino gambling in Sochi can be an interesting one; when asked following the Winter Olympics whether there such plans for Sochi, Putin, who appears to have a dislike that is personal gambling generally speaking, answered that, no, Sochi would remain a ‘family resort.’ However, with sanctions looming, Putin may have little option but to embrace the possible economic benefits this most distasteful of vices may provide.