The issue for the construction and operation of a casino-resort complex was on the agenda of a ministerial committee at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, comprising the Finance, Commerce, Interior, and Justice ministers, as well as the undersecretary to the President.
According to Phileleftheros, during the meeting the committee heard that Legal Services had concluded the review of the relevant bill, which will soon be submitted to the House along with the complementary regulations.
There was also a discussion about the mounting interest by foreign investors, both from the US and Asia (mainly from Singapore).
Among those who expressed interest in the project, and even despatched representatives to Cyprus, was a global casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
The committee reviewed potential investors’ concerns over the government’s proposal to offer state land for the construction of the casino, and decided to allow investors to select the casino’s location privately.
It also decided to issue the successful bidder an interim permit to operate a casino in an existing establishment, until such time as construction of the proposed casino is complete.
The decision was taken to address investors’ concerns of a wasted period from licensing to building a fully operational casino, which would entail an investment of hundreds of millions of euros.
The committee also discussed political parties’ remarks on the issue of licensing.
A draft bill describing the broad strokes of the government strategy for issuing a casino license was presented on August 1 by the government, with a view to obtaining feedback from political parties and finalising the laws andregulations governing the licensing, operation and oversight of an integrated casino resort in time for the licensing of the highest bidder to be complete “within a year.”
The plan was to offer the successful bidder a 30-year license, with a guaranteed monopoly for the first 15, in exchange for 15% of the establishment’s annual gross revenues.
Source: Cyprus Mail
