Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings, the leading backer of the Tigre de Cristal casino resort in the Russian Far East, says Phase II of the property will be postponed to “no earlier than 2025” due to “the continual negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly restrictions on international travel,” as well as, “economic uncertainties.”
In its annual report, filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week, Summit Ascent cited “aggressively escalating economic sanctions against the Russian Federation” by the United States, the European Union and allied nations due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The expansion was originally scheduled to be complete in 2023, according to GGRAsia.
Summit Ascent the resort continues to operate and has been “self-sustaining without any bank borrowings.” It added, “We shall have to adjust our operations to the reality of a volatile business environment and try to find ways to do business within the new constraints we may face including, but not limited to, the payment platform for further capital investment for the Tigre de Cristal Phase II, loan repayment and dividend repatriation to its parent companies in Hong Kong, settlements with the overseas customers, suppliers and service providers, and the increased operating costs due to the inflation and supply-chain disruptions.”
Summit Ascent also noted that in the face of economic sanctions against Russia, the country’s currency, the ruble, had “plummeted to a record low. As the ruble depreciation threatens to stoke inflation, the Bank of Russia more than doubled its key interest rate to 20 percent from 28 February 2022.”
Summit Ascent has a 77.5 percent interest in Tigre de Cristal’s gaming license holder, Oriental Regent Ltd. Another Hong Kong-listed firm, Suncity Group Holdings Ltd., has a 69.66 percent interest in Summit Ascent.
Tigre de Cristal is the second IR in the Primorye Economic Zone to put development on hold; earlier this month, NagaCorp said it was indefinitely suspending the development of its project, Naga Vladivostok.
In related news, the Primorsky Krai Development Corp. has signed an agreement with a South Korean investor to build a gaming resort in the area. According to a release, Plgen Holdings Co. Ltd. will invest about RUB2.5 billion (US$23.4 million) in the first phase of a new casino project, scheduled to open by the end of 2025.
The statement said Plgen Holdings had a professional team with “extensive experience” in managing gambling and entertainment complexes in South Korea and Southeast Asia. It gave no further details about the company or its executives.
The announcement said the first phase of the project will feature a casino hotel with more than 100 rooms. A theme park and other facilities are planned for the second phase, it added.
