As international sanctions begin to bite and the government for the Russian territory of Primorsky Krai has reportedly passed legislation to extend a range of tax relief measure for local casino operators by a further six months.

According to a report from Asia Gaming Brief, the initial round of reprieves was introduced in late-2020 so as to help gambling firms in the eastern jurisdiction get through a lull in foreign tourism brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the source detailed that the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai has now prolonged this mitigation until the end of September as the region struggles to attract investment and visitors owing to the ever-increasing range of penalties on Russia following that nation’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Expanding enterprise:

Under federal legislation supported by President Vladimir Putin and ratified in 2018, Primorsky Krai is one of only five disparate areas in Russia where casino gambling is permitted. The Asian jurisdiction’s Primorye Integrated Entertainment Resort zone was already home to the 121-room Tigre de Cristal facility from Summit Ascent Holdings Limited and subsequently welcomed the $45 million first stage of the Shambala Casino from local concern Shambala CJSC in October of 2020.

Retrograde reality:

The Chairman for the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai’s Fiscal Policy and Financial Resources Committee, Galust Akhoyan, reportedly declared that the extension was needed in order to ease the tax burden on local casino operators in the face of the ‘worsening economic situation’ brought on by the sanctions. The legislator purportedly went on to estimate that the relief for the Tigre de Cristal and Shambala Casino venues will likely end up costing his region approximately $481,000.

Local links:

Asia Gaming Brief reported that all of this comes despite the fact that Summit Ascent Holdings Limited last month asserted that it was experiencing no significant impacts from the sanctions being imposed on Russia and remained popular with domestic punters. Nevertheless, the Hong Kong-listed operator purportedly furthermore proclaimed that it would be looking into ‘adjusting our operations to the reality of a volatile business environment’ in hopes of finding fresh ways of doing business ‘within the new constraints we may be facing’.

Potential premieres:

The Primorye Integrated Entertainment Resort zone is located around 31 miles north of Vladivostok and is slated to also welcome large casino resorts from operators Diamond Fortune Holdings Limited and NagaCorp Limited by as soon as 2024 costing roughly $270 million and $350 million respectively. The state-owned Primorsky Krai Development Corporation additionally inked an arrangement last month that could see South Korean enterprise Plgen Holdings Company Limited debut an analogous $24 million facility in as little as three years’ time.