Russian firm Diamond Fortune flags Primorye progress

Jun 20, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Ground preparation for Russia-based Diamond Fortune Holdings Ltd’s first casino resort in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone is under way.

That is according to a Monday news report published on the official website of the Primorsky Krai Development Corp, a government-owned company overseeing the development of the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone. The latter is a casino development area located 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Russia’s Pacific port of Vladivostok.

The website quoted an official from Diamond Fortune stating the firm planned to open the first stage of the project – named Selena World Resort and Casino (pictured in an artist’s rendering) – in 2019.

The development’s initial stage will include a hotel and a casino with capacity for at least 100 gaming tables and 500 slot machines. Once all phases are completed, the property will have additional accommodation and gaming, as wells as shops, a spa and restaurants.

Privately-held Diamond Fortune was established in 2010. The firm previously announced it planned to develop a total of four projects in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone.

Four licences have so far been granted by the authorities for casino resort developments in Primorye.

Tigre de Cristal was the first gaming property to enter the market in Primorye in October 2015. The venue – majority owned by Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, a wholly-owned entity of Asian casino investor Lawrence Ho Yau Lung – is currently the only casino in operation in the integrated entertainment zone.

Hong Kong-listed casino operator and developer NagaCorp Ltd is also investing in a casino resort in Primorye. NagaCorp said in its 2016 annual report in March that the project was “broadly on schedule for operation by 2019”.

Beside Diamond Fortune, another Russian group has pledged to invest in Primorye. Royal Time LLC has plans to build a so-called integrated resort in the zone, with the working title ‘Phoenix’. The project has been marred by reported delays and legal disputes.

Brokerage Daiwa Securities Group Inc said in a March report it expected gross gaming revenue from mass-market table games in Primorye to show a compound annual growth of 115 percent in the period 2016 to 2020, “reaching US$335 million in 2020”. The brokerage added this was likely to be driven by “the area’s proximity and accessibility to the underserved North Asian region, as well as a recovering domestic economy resulting in a rising affluence in Russia”.

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