Gaming king Sheldon Adelson will not invest in Russia
74-year-old Sheldon Adelson (with the personal fortune of 26.5 billion dollars, he takes the 6th place in “Forbes” billionaire rating) in his interview to the “Vedomosti” newspaper announced that he does not see any prospects in investing in Russian gaming business as he is not sure of the Russian government`s reliability. Despite the special territories allotted for gambling facilities, Adelson believes that it will work “only for the companies interested solely in casinos”.
Adelson said he does not “want to invest in the country where I can`t feel sanguine about tomorrow”. Investments require certain conditions. And there are enough countries in the world which are ready to give Adelson their cooperation, he said. These countries are ready to give money to Adelson`s company. And even return to him over 50% of his investments, he said, implying Macau. “If I invest 12 billion dollars, and they return 6 to me, only for me to invest in their country! And even allot land beside a large city with 8-10 million of population, provide access to an international airport, labour force and construction capacities, etc. Now fancy why on Earth in this situation I should go to a place where they will give me nothing?”, claimed Adelson.
"I was offered to invest in Kaliningrad, said Adelson. But it is ridiculous! For opening a complex like the one in Macau, I need it to be near a large city with a big international airport where all the major airlines fly. And there is nothing like this in Kaliningrad, There are not enough construction capacities to build a complex of 1.5 million sqm”.
"Besides, I need accommodation and hotels for workers for the construction period, and then for guests. As a result it is too great an investment for too small a profit. We do not just put a roulette and a couple of chairs, we are not focused on sole casinos. We create integrated resorts”, concluded the businessman.
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