SOUTH AMERICA
Evolution finalizó su año récord 2015 con otro trimestre de sólido crecimiento. Los ingresos en el cuarto trimestre subieron un 62 por ciento hasta situarse en los 22,4 millones de euros, lo que supone un beneficio para el período de 6,9 millones de euros.
La legislación necesaria para introducir el juego en casinos en el sur de Chipre se ha visto retrasada, ya que solo unos pocos de los legis- ladores son capaces de entender el lenguaje en el que está escrita. El Presidente del Comité de la Cámara de Comercio, Zacharias Zachariou, ha solicitado una versión mejor traducida del bor- rador de ley, toda vez que la versión en griego no ha hecho sino confundir a los parlamentarios.
Una vez recibida la aprobación de la Autoridad de la Competencia de Estonia, OEG ha finalizado la adquisición del operador de casinos estonio AS MC Kasiinod, que también es propi- etario de OÜ Oma & Hea, dedicada a suministrar servicios de bar en casinos. Como resultado de la culminación de la transacción, OEG es propietaria ahora de 24 casinos en Estonia.
Tras haber firmado solo un contrato de distribución con el operador eslovaco Top Game en diciembre, Euro Games Technology se mues- tra muy satisfecha por haber implementado ya 130 máquinas en el mercado.
Holland Casino ha designado a Erwin van Lambaart como su nuevo Director Ejecutivo. Comenzará a ejercer sus funciones el 7 de marzo ocupando un puesto que dejó libre el pasado verano Willem-Jan van den Dijssel. El Sr. van Lambaart afirmó: «Espero dar forma al futuro de la organización en un entorno de mercado lleno de retos».
Merkur Gaming y su empresa de producción adp Gauselmann GmbH han suscrito un contrato de proveedor preferente con Crane Payment Innovations (CPI). En virtud de este acuerdo de tres años, Merkur ha elegido el SC Advance como su aceptador de billetes global por defecto.
Macau Legend Development ha iniciado oficialmente la construcción de su complejo de casino valorado en 250 millones de euros en Praia, Cabo Verde, en pleno Océano Atlántico frente a las costas de África occidental, en lo que se espera que será una fase de construcción que durará tres años. El proyecto, que será el com- plejo turístico más grande de Cabo Verde, incluirá un resort integrado de 152 700 metros cuadra- dos e instalaciones de juego, además de tiendas, restaurantes, un centro de congresos, un museo, espacios funcionales, un club y un puerto deportivo.
Casinos Austria se dispone a llevar a Argentina y a la provincia de Salta ante el Centro Internacional de Arbitraje de Disputas sobre Inversiones del Banco Mundial con motivo de la revocación de su licencia. La empresa solicita como compensación un pago de 150 millones de dólares.
P8 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Casinos Austria takes legal action against the Argentinian government for its role in the Salta Casino debacle
ARGENTINA CASINO LICENCES Casinos Austria to Sue Argentina
Casinos Austria is to take Argentina and the province of Salta to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes at the World Bank over the revocation of its licence. Te company is demanding payment of US$150m in compensation.
According to the complaint lodged with the courts, Argentina must now submit evidence to substantiate the charges before an international tribunal over “claims arising out of the revocation . . . of a license to operate games of chance and lottery held by claimant's local subsidiary under alleged concerns of money laundering.”
Casinos Austria International had been present in Salta since December 2006 when the company acquired a majority interest in Leisure & Entertainment (L & E) a company that owns 90 per cent of the shares of gaming company Enjasa. Enjasa was given the exclusive right to run gaming in the province after gaming was privatised in Salta in 1998.
Under a new deal which was agreed to in October 2013 it was established that Casinos Austria would own 100 per cent of Leisure and Entertainment SA – Enjasa’s mother company. Casinos Austria agreed to the deal after
discussions with the local government of Salta and agreeing to promote tourism and the entertainment sector in the province.
In a press release at the time the company said that it had much to add in the future growth of both Austrian and European tourism in the province.
However, in August 2013 the Minister of Economy, Carlos Parodi announced that the company’s license would be revoked due to apparent breeches in anti-money laundering standards. Te regulatory gaming body denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Enjasa to continue managing raffles, lotteries, bingos, slot machines and casinos and governor Juan Manuel Urtubey revoked the company’s contract by decree in 2013.
If the province of Salta loses the case then the federal government will take the money earmarked for the state and pay it directly in order to settle the amount due. Casino Austria. together with its partners operates in about 40 land-based casinos in 16 countries and the company has been present in Argentina since 1998. At present the company is in the throes of a takeover bid from Austria’s Novomatic Group of Companies and Czech-based Emma Delta.
gaming revenue has decreased by as much as 30 per cent while running costs have increased by 10 per cent.
900 redundancies since implementation of new tax rate
Panama
A tax on gaming which has been in place since June 2015 has caused 900 redundancies nationwide according to the Manager of Te Association of Managers of Gaming Panama (ASAJA) Antonio Alfaro.
Approved in order to fund US$60m of the US$74.8m needed to increase pensions a 5.5 per cent tax applies now to all cash withdrawals made in casinos, slot parlours, bingo halls and sports betting shops.
According to Mr. Alfaro gross
Data gathered by ASAJA last year reports that 700 hundred redundancies were made in the provinces of Panamá and Colón alone between June and December while a further 200 people lost their jobs nationwide. Te number of layoffs, he said, is likely to increase while opening hours could be shortened unless the government makes a reversal on the new tax quickly.
“If the trend continues indefinitely it will be necessary to reduce opening hours in gaming centres so that they will only have staff during the night shift, which is the busiest. By reducing the shift to eight-hours the reduction of staff would be around 1,500 when added to those who have already been laid off,” he said.
Te industry currently employs 6,500 people. Alfaro said that the government should redistribute the additional tax burden on other economic activities and pointed out that the government is already losing out on tax revenue with gaming tax revenue decreasing by around US$1m in December 2015 compared to the same month in 2014.
According to a report released by the Gaming Control Board (JCJ) gaming revenue in Panama decreased significantly in 2015. Between July and September bets in casinos, bingo halls, sporting events and slot halls, recorded an annual decrease of 10.2 per cent with a total balance of US$562.2m. According to figures released by the JCJ from January to July gaming tax decreased from US$59m to US$49.6m, a decrease of US$9.4m (16 per cent) compared to 2014.
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