Delays in getting a casino project off the ground in Russia’s Primorye gaming zone have cost a company Rub 100m (US $1.8m).
On Monday, Betting Business Russia quoted the press service of the Development Corporation of the Primorsky Territory saying it had received the Rub 100m from a company known as Hein Yongli due to the company’s “absence from the site” of its proposed gaming venue.
The Hein Yongli LLC was registered in Vladivostok in November 2015 after winning an open auction to become the fifth company to set up casino operations in the Primorye gaming zone. The company vowed to spend a minimum of $500m developing an integrated resort on Russia’s eastern shores complete with a four-star hotel and 10 ‘guest houses’ for high rollers.
Hein Yongli, whose general director was identified as Leonid Gordeychuk, won the auction in part based on its promise to commit Rub 1.5b to building up the under-developed engineering and transport infrastructure in the Primorye gaming zone.
The Primorsky corporation says it will use the Rub 100m compensation payment it demanded from Hein Yongli to pay for further construction of the Primorye region’s infrastructure. It’s unclear if Hein Yongli intends to proceed with its Primorye project.
In March, Primorsky Territory Vice-Governor Evgeny Polyansky publicly warned the gaming zone’s licensees to observe their stated development timelines, threatening “termination of the investment agreement with the subsequent payment of fines” for failing to match promises with action on the ground.
Earlier this month, the Primorsky corporation filed court papers seeking to terminate its agreement with a local subsidiary of Russian casino operator Royal Time Group for its failure to start construction on its proposed Phoenix casino project.
To date, only one Primorye casino – Lawrence Ho’s Tigre de Cristal – has commenced operations, while NagaCorp’s Mayak project is reportedly on schedule to open its first phase next year. Diamond Fortune Holdings also expects to open the first phase of its Selena resort in 2018.
