Sun plans to build casino in Russia
South Africa’s biggest casino company, Sun International, said on Tuesday it was planning a significant investment near Moscow to build a casino complex with Russian Belaya Dacha Group.
The firm said in a statement the plans were at an advanced stage. The proposed project is sited south-east of Moscow, the first phase alone consisting of some 1 000 top-end hotel rooms, a casino, an international convention centre, summer and winter sporting facilities - including Russia’s first PGA-rated championship golf course - dachas and a spa.
"Preparatory work, such as project conceptualization, financial feasibilities and economic impact studies, are well advanced, and preliminary results confirm our early and positive assessment of the project," David Coutts-Trotter, Sun International’s Chief Executive said.
"However, the final decision to proceed will obviously depend on the promulgation of appropriate legislation and the development of a suitable regulatory framework for the new gambling industry dispensation in Moscow Region."
Coutts-Trotter was referring to President Vladimir Putin’s statement last week that the Russian Duma would enact major amendments to its gambling legislation.
Casino owners in Russia have warned that Putin’s proposal to rid Russia’s towns and cities of gambling and isolate it in a few remote reservations risked driving the gaming business underground.
In a surprise move last Wednesday, Putin handed to parliamentary leaders a draft law which envisages the creation of four gaming zones outside densely-populated areas -- two in the European area and one each in Siberia and the Far East. Gambling centres have become an obsession for a growing number of Russians, and Moscow accounts for at least 80 percent of all gambling centres in Russia.