The bidding for a casino license at the site of the former Hellinikon Airport near Athens reportedly will be launched by the end of August. According to Greek news outlet Ekathimerini.com, the preferred bidder should be known by the end of the year when the former airport is also set to be privatized.
Games Magazine Brasil reports that “bureaucratic setbacks” have delayed the massive project, designed to assure international lenders that the country will be in a position to pay back its debt. The magazine wrote that the Hellenic Republic „has been on financial life support for eight years after the Eurozone plunged into a deep financial crisis in 2010.”
The Greek government last year OK’d a project by investors including local partner Lamda Development, China’s Fosun Group, which operates Club Med, and Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills Properties. The partners are planning an €8 billion (US$9.3 billion) integrated resort at the site of the former airport.
In 2014, lawmakers approved a 99-year lease for 620 hectares (1,530 acres) of land at the airport for the partners.
