The tax for slot machines and betting shops in the Russian Federation will be doubled by the Russian Finance Ministry, according to an Asia Gaming Brief report.

The news agency reports that Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev (pictured) made the remarks during a briefing on Friday at the Moscow Financial Forum. Moiseyev was quoted by Interfax, a privately-held independent news agency in Russia, as saying, “We believe that they [the taxes] should be adjusted, we are planning to increase them twofold. But our plan is to keep increasing them further, depending the tax collection and the reaction of the business,” as reported by the news agency.

According to the report, it was noted by Moiseyev that the tax had not been indexed for more than 10 years.

Constituent entities of the Russian Federation determine the tax rates on gambling within approved limits at the federal level. The current minimum rate for a slot machine is RUB 1,500 ($23.50) and RUB 7,500 per month, is the maximum rate. The rate paid by totes and betting shops ranges from RUB 5,000 to RUB 7,000.

Meanwhile, Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, the company behind the Tigre De Cristal casino resort in Russia’s Primorsky Krai region, recently posted its net profit for the six-month period ended 30 June 2016 of HK$1.7, just over $219,100.