RIGA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Riga City Council on Tuesday voted to ban gambling in the city's historical center.
The city council supported the ban on gambling in Riga's historical center in order to fulfill a separate decision by the Supreme Court of Latvia.
The city council's Legal Department will now start the paperwork to prepare separate draft resolutions for each gambling hall in the city's historical center which will have to be closed.
Altogether 41 gambling halls will have to be closed, and the city council will have to vote on closing of each of those establishments separately.
The gambling operators may contest the city council's decisions before the court, but will have to close down the gambling halls in five years anyway.
Dainis Turlais, chairman of the city council's committee on security, public order and corruption prevention, said earlier that during its last two four-year terms, the council had not granted any permissions for opening new gambling halls, not only in the historical center but the entire city.
He said he now welcomed the separate decision by the Supreme Court which encouraged the local council not just to keep refusing to issue new permissions but also to close some of the existing gambling halls.
Turlais also voiced hope that other courts would take into account the Supreme Court ruling.
Arnis Verzemnieks, an advisor to the Latvian Gaming Business Association, said the proposal to ban gambling in Riga's historical center is detrimental to the city's business environment.
The city council could refuse to issue permits for opening of new gambling halls, but it should not be ordering closing of the existing gambling halls, he said.
