The two casinos in Russia’s Primorye Territory were granted three tax-free months in 2021, a gift from the local government to help them survive the ongoing pandemic.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the casinos—Summit Ascent’s Tigre de Cristal and CJSC’s Shambala—were not required to pay taxes for the months of June, July and August.
While low visitation has caused revenues to drop, the tax holiday reportedly allowed the casinos to pay employees and contractors as well as to “support construction and to increase investor confidence in the region.”
A reduced tax rate has also been extended for more than a year.
In average years, casinos in Primorye are expected to generate about RUB300 million (US$4.120 million) in taxes a year. This year, the government has budgeted for less than RUB19.1 million(US$261,000).
A third casinos, Naga Vladivostok, is also currently in development, with no opening date yet announced. The special zone was designed to host a cluster of casinos, as many as a dozen at full build-out. Tigre de Cristal opened in 2015. Shambala opened last May.
