Plans are taking shape for a major new gambling and entertainment complex in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
The approximate revenues of the Primorye complex may amount to $1.2bn, reaching up to $5.2bn in ten years, with business helped along by regulatory allowances and tax breaks.– Russia’s Ministry for the Development of the Far East
Although Russia’s easternmost city on the Sea of Japan is more than 9,000km from Moscow, investors hope the casino cluster will draw 10 million visitors a year from cities in northern China, Korea and Japan, which are relatively short flights away.
Investors including gambling tycoon Lawrence Ho, and Russian firms Diamond Fortune Holdings and Royal Time Group, are planning to spend a combined $2.2bn on casinos, hotels and other amenities in this city of just under 600,000, reports Russian state-owned media outlet, Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH).
The development, known as "Primorye", after the Russian name for the area, may eventually compete with Macau for the title of Asia’s largest gambling centre, investors hope.
RBTH reports that, according to Russia’s Ministry for the Development of the Far East, the approximate revenues of the Primorye complex may amount to $1.2bn, reaching up to $5.2bn in ten years, with business helped along by regulatory allowances and tax breaks.
Primorye is closer to northern China than Macau is – just a two-and-a-half hour flight from Beijing and a one-and-a-half hour flight from Harbin, the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province which borders Russia.
Diamond Fortune Holdings says an Asian population of approximately 300 million is within a three-hour flight from the port city, which experiences warm, humid summers and moderately cold winters.
Another investor, Royal Time Group, is expecting to start the construction of its branded resort at Primorye in the coming months.
Russia prohibits gambling outside specially-established zones.
Image: Renders of hotel designs proposed by Diamond Fortune Holdings in Vladivostok (Diamond Fortune Holdings)
