Marina del Sol has fought hard to move ahead with its proposed Chillán casino but has faced stiff opposition from one of its biggest competitors and rivals in the Boldt-Peralada group who have alleged that Marina del Sol had violated a number of protocols in the bidding process for the Chillán casino license and has gone to court over the issue.

Nicolás Imschenetzky, the president of the Marina del Sol has denied these allegations and stated that Boldt-Peralada was looking for ways to delay the Chillán casino project but remained confident that the litigation surrounding the project will soon come to an end as the courts make the right decision that will boost economic growth in the city and also allow his company to open the casino without further delay.

Things have not gone well for the Boldt-Peralada group in Chillán as the group’s proposal to develop a new casino was rejected by the Regional Council (GORE) who found the casino site too close to an educational institution thereby violating the procedures of the Regional Development Strategy. Boldt-Peralada did not accept the decision and went to court to get it overturned but the courts also ruled in favor of GORE.  The group appealed to one of the higher court’s to overrule the decision but once again received a verdict in April that was not in its favour. Boldt-Peralada has now decided to approach the Supreme Court in a final attempt to overturn the decision.

Boldt-Peralada has now gone after Marina del Sol as the group sent in a request to the Comptroller General of Chile (General Accounting Office) alleging that the company violated the bidding process by not submitting a bank guarantee providing that it had financial resources to complete the project. The group alleges that the Chilean Gaming Control Board failed to report this discrepancy to the concerned authorities in time which would have disqualified Marina del Sol from receiving a license.

In a statement, Imschenetzky said “This is nothing new. Maybe they do not feel confident that the process will end well for them. What has happened in Chillán is precisely what we must prevent from happening during the bidding for the municipal licences. It is the time to intervene to make sure that these processes go well and with a low chance of being caught up in litigation.”

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has passed a new law that will allow the extension of seven new licenses in the districts of Arica, Coquimbo, Iquique, Vina del Mar Puerto, Pucon, Puerto Natales and Varas. The licenses in all seven municipals expired at the end of December 2015 but will now be renewed till December 2017. Marina del Sol has not ruled out the possibility of applying for one of these municipal casino licenses.