Investment in Russia’s far east Primorye gaming zone has “stalled” due to the wide variety of easier accessible gaming options in the region, according to a local academic.
Monday brought word that Diamond Fortune Holdings had broken ground on its Primorye casino project Selena, the first phase of which could potentially open as early as 2019. The announcement was welcome news for a gaming zone that has seen as many developmental setbacks as it has positive developments.
On Tuesday, Federal Press published an interview with Institute of International Business and Economics academic Aleksandrom Latkinym on why Primorye was having such a hard time building its casino market. At present, only Lawrence Ho’s Tigre de Cristal casino has opened to the public – and it’s having trouble competing with local basement casinos, let alone established Asia-Pacific rivals – while NagaCorp’s Lighthouse project isn’t expected to open until late 2018.
Latkinym suggested investment has stalled because gamblers have too many other regional casino options where “conditions are better than in Russia,” with a “wider range of services and cheaper hotels” that are also far easier to access than the infrastructure-challenged Primorye zone outside Vladivostok on Russia’s eastern coast.
Latkinym lamented the “poorly organized” activities of local operators and suggested there needed to be closer cooperation between the government and private businesses regarding the tourism industry.
However, other reports suggest Primorye’s problems may be more ethereal than physical. Vestiprim recently detailed how local archaeologists had uncovered evidence that the entire gaming zone is located on top of an ancient burial ground.
According to the report, the existence of the ancient graves was uncovered when the developers began digging the foundations of their casino projects. The discovery of human remains along with artifacts including pottery and tools was responsible for delaying NagaCorp’s project until the finds could be documented and preserved for posterity.
So there you have it. Primorye can boost its infrastructure all it wants, but as the movie Poltergeist taught us, there’s little to be done to assuage the concerns of hordes of angry indigenous ghosts except GTFO ASAP.
