After seeing three different companies selected to compete for the only casino license in Cyprus, the race may now be down to just one contender as reports have surfaced that two applicants have been unable to secure land deals. Melco/Hard Rock now may be the lone survivor in efforts to be the operator offering gaming in the area.

Hard Rock International and Melco International Development are working together to try and secure the gaming license and are in competition from NagaCorp of Cambodia and Bloomberry Resorts of the Philippines. Back in June, the Hard Rock/Melco partnership filed a formal protest against the other two competitors on the fact that both companies had been given a three month extension to submit a final bid for the casino.

This past Monday, the media of Cyprus has reported that an official, who remains anonymous, within the Ministry of Commerce was saying that the bids by NagaCorp and Bloomberry were failing as the companies had not been able to secure land deals.

It is believed that Bloomberry is losing interest in the Cyprus casino project due to high prices that property owners want. The property owners control the site where Bloomberry would like to place the venue. It is believed that NagaCorp is still in the negotiating process in trying to secure the site they desire for the project.

Bloomberry was showing interest in creating a gaming venue in Paphos while NagaCorp had shown interest in Larnaca. Melco and the Hard Rock are reportedly wanting to build in the Limassol area and will be working with Phassouri, which is an agricultural firm that owns orchards in the area.

The extension that Bloomberry and NagaCorp received will expire on the 5th of October. It has been suggested by local media that the government does not want to push the deadline back any longer. The government was originally trying to have the casino license granted by the end of 2016.