Casino to open in 2018
The final race for a casino license in Cyprus will include five bidders, according to a report in the Cyprus Weekly. The official contenders include Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp, which operates NagaWorld in Cambodia and is building an integrated resort in Vladivostok; Bloomberry Resorts, owner of Solaire Casino in Manila’s Entertainment City complex; U.S.-based operator Hard Rock; French communications and construction firm Bouygues, which owns a 22 percent stake in Hermes Airports Ltd.; and Absolute, a Russian company that formerly ran a casino in Russia.
The Asia Gaming Brief reported that each of the contenders paid €10,000 (just under US$11,000) for the chance to bid. The field originally included 12 would-be licensees; among the international operators who dropped out of the race were Malaysia’s Genting and South Africa’s Sun International, though the latter paid the license fee and could opt back in.
The license will be granted sometime in 2016. The licensee will then have about two years to develop the resort; in the interim, it also will have the option of building a temporary casino to generate revenue. The first integrated resort in the southern part of the Mediterranean island must offer a minimum of 100 gaming tables and 1,000 gaming machines. The chosen operator may also develop a smaller satellite casino and a freestanding outlet with just three machines.
The license will be valid for 30 years with an exclusivity clause for the first 15 years. There are currently no legal casinos in the southern part of the republic, which is affiliated with the Greek government; however, several casinos operate in the northern Turkish sector.
The project, approved by the government in August, is expected to boost tourism and create some 25,000 new jobs.
