Favorable tax rate a plus
A casino resort under construction in Primorye, Russia is almost finished, according to news reports.
Summit Ascent Holdings, a company backed by minority investor Melco International CEO Lawrence Ho, filed an update saying, “The integrated resort in the Russian Federation is nearing completion. Being the single largest shareholder in the joint venture, we are actively involved in all phases of construction, staffing of the resort and execution of our business plan.”
In September 2013, Ho pledged to invest US$700 million in the Primorye project. Last July, Summit’s equity interest increased from 46 percent to 60 percent.
Despite “challenges” in the Macau market, where gross gaming revenue fell 37 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, Ho said he is “optimistic about the prospects of the company’s gaming and resort development in the Russian Federation Far East, which has so far attracted more international investment than the country’s other gaming zones.”
Asia Gaming Brief reports that the casino is expected to have 25 VIP table games, 15 mass-market baccarat tables and 800 slots. It will include a hotel with 119 rooms.
Its location near Vladivostok is “geographically close to the target feeder markets of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces in Northeastern China, as well as South Korea and Japan,” the company filing said. “It carries a very favorable tax environment for gaming activity compared to other jurisdictions, and is expected to be the first and only legitimate casino operating in the Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation for next few years.”
In its annual report, Summit disclosed that turnover in 2014 was HK$21.9 million (US$2.8 million), compared with HK$7.9 million in 2013, while loss for the year was HK$78.9 million, compared with HK$79.5 million in 2013. “The losses were mainly attributable to non-cash share-based payments of HK$84.2 million incurred during the year,” the company said.
The project was originally set to open this month, reports GGRAsia; it now speculates the grand opening could take place in July.
NagaCorp Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed firm that operates a casino resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is also investing in Primorye and expects to be open sometime in 2018.
