Marina del Sol Denies Irregularities In Chillan Casino Bidding Process

Nicolás Imschenetzky, the president of the Chilean company Marina del Sol which is one of the companies involved in the disputed bidding process for a casino license in the region of Chillan, Chile has said that the delay in process was mainly due to its competitor, the Boldt-Peralada’s Group ongoing legal actions.

The president has denied any irregularities in the process.

In a statement, Nicolás Imschenetzky said,

We hope that the end of the litigation will come soon which has unfortunately taken quite some time and it has been detrimental to the economy for the city because at this stage the casino should already be open and generating taxes

The Boldt-Peralada group, an Argentine-Spanish joint venture has decided to approach the country’s Supreme Court to appeal a ruling given out by Chile’s highest court, which upheld the decision by the Regional Council (GORE). The Boldt-Peralada group had applied for a casino license but GORE rejected its proposal on the basis that the site chosen was situated to close to an educational institution, which violated the provisions of the Regional Development Strategy. The group has been trying hard to get this decision overturned but has so far been unsuccessful.

In another move, the group has raised a request with the Comptroller General of Chile (General Accounting Office) to review its competitor Marina del Sol’s licensing process. The company alleges that the company received a casino license even though it violated the bidding process as it did not submit a bank guarantee as proof of its financial ability to complete the project.

Responding to Boldt-Peralada ‘s latest move to approach the Comptroller, Imschenetzky stated that it was not surprising and suggested that it was a last-ditch effort by the group. He also said that this highlighted the need for the licensing processes in the country to be made clear in order to avoid such litigation. Imschenetzky said that care should be taken so that the new licenses being released in the municipal regions should not be subject to the same issues.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has recently approved new gaming regulations that have resulted in seven new licenses that had expired in December 2015 being made available for renewal. Under the new law, the licenses will be valid until December 2017. The municipal licenses are available in the districts of Puerto Natales, Arica, Vina del Mar, Coquimbo, Puerto Varas, Iquique, Pucon.

Imschenetzky added that his company was interested in participating in the bids for the new licenses. Since the bidding process and requirements differed by city, Marina del Sol stated that it would however have to analyze them further before moving ahead.