DPM Trutnev displeased about developmental delays
Summit Ascent Holdings’ Tigre de Cristal casino resort, the only integrated resort in Russia’s Primorye economic development zone, is warning Russian authorities it may suspend operations rather than act as a tax collector for the government.
According to PrimaMedia, Tatyana Kazantseva, interim vice-governor of the Primorye Territory, said the resort enterprise owned and operated by a company controlled by Lawrence Ho is “alarmed by the unsettled issue of taxation on wins.
“The fact is that they are not a tax agent for charging taxes, but recently they have been obliged to collect it,” she said. “This is unrealistic and they are even ready to suspend their activities.”
According to a law just signed by President Vladimir Putin, in 2018 casinos will be required to collect taxes on wins exceeding RUB 15,000 (US$250) from customers.
Meanwhile, CalvinAyre.com reports that Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev “paid another ominous ‘working visit’ to the Primorye Far East gaming zone this week to check on the progress of new casino projects.”
In August, Trutnev declared he was unhappy about the sluggish rate of development in the casino zone. Tigre de Cristal, which opened in October 2015, is the only casino resort currently in operation. But several others are in the pipeline, including Russian operator Diamond Fortune Holdings’ Selena resort and Cambodian operator NagaCorp’s Naga Vladivostok.
Trutnev reportedly said if developers don’t pick up the pace of, Moscow may move in and take over the casino zone.
