Russian Government to take control of development in Primorye gaming zone

ia’s Federal Government has today revealed that it will take charge of development activity in the Primorye Gaming City area, following widespread criticism over a lack of progress.

The province of Primorye Krai is located in the far east of Russia, near to both China and Japan, with officials keen to develop a casino hub which would draw gamblers from both countries and provide Russia with a new source of financial revenue.

Eight government sanctioned casinos were to be built in the Primorye Gambling Zone with the final cost of the development expected to be in the region of approximately RUB11.6 billion (US$350 million).

At present however, only Tigre de Cristal has begun its operations, prompting authorities to step in and jumpstart the development process.

Speaking to Russian news agency TASS, Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Representative of the President in Russia's Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, said: “The gaming zone in Primorye is developing slowly, and we recently held a meeting during which we decided to file lawsuits against four out of two investors [in the zone] to request their agreements to be terminated because they do not do anything there.”

Last month, a similar lawsuit resulted in the discontinuance of Russian company Royal Time Primorye’s contract to build a casino resort in the region.

Although Trutev did not specify the investors facing legal action, he did confirm that one of the investors, Melco has already built a small hotel in the zone but has been slow in implementing the second phase of its project.

NagaCorp Ltd, who will develop the zones largest resort, Primorsky Entertainment Resort City had also previously been forced to delay the start of construction works following extensive archeological excavations on the site, however Trutnev commented that "now they are assuring us that they will begin work this year and will quickly implement the project".

Trutev added: “We have land lots for three additional residents [in the zone], with one land lot remaining unallocated and two others to be retrieved. We know that there is interest in them both among already existing investors and other investors on the territory of the Russian Federation."

The fourth and final investor, Diamond Fortune Holdings Prim has only recently started the construction of an entertainment complex with a casino in the zone.