Casino operators in Russia’s Azov-City gaming zone have officially been given a New Year’s Day 2019 deadline for shutting down their operations.

On May 1, Russian president Vladimir Putin (pictured) stopped purging dissidents long enough to put his signature on an amended federal law that calls for all casino operations in the so-called Azov-City gaming zone in the southwestern Krasnodar Krai region to cease business effective Jan. 1, 2019.

As bad as this sounds for the three casinos currently plying their trade in Azov-City, the law Putin signed actually extended a previous shutdown order that was supposed to take effect in April 2015. The extension only applies to casinos that were issued permits prior to June 23, 2014.

Azov-City was the first of Russia’s original designated gaming zones to launch casino operations in 2010 but the government wants to shift the region’s casino activity to Sochi, which was formally approved to host casinos via the same law Putin signed on May 1. The first Sochi casino is expected to open its doors this June.