Operators search other markets to take their operations out of Ecuador quickly

2011-09-27

Reading time 1:39 min

(Ecuador).- After the decree recently presented by President Correa, uncertainty prevails in the sector. In the case of casinos, its representatives assure that they will take their investments to other markets. Gambling venues, on the other hand, will operate until the decree is published in the Official Record, but they warn a “social chaos” because they will not be able to pay off the employees.

The spokesman of the Association of Casinos and Bingos (Ascabi), Fausto Flores, said that the issue is being analyzed and that they would make a statement on the matter. However, Flores anticipated that the decisions of the trade union related to investments (to take them quickly out of the country) and the time they expected to have (they expected five years and they will count with six months).

“Investments will be allocated in countries such as Costa Rica, Puerto Rico or Colombia, where the activity is considered as a complement to tourist development”, Flores explained, who also assured that they will take out the capital invested in slots, table games and everything related to the technical area of a casino, “as soon as possible”.

The representative warned that those funds will not be forwarded to other activities, because “there is a specialization in the investments”. He also commented that it is feasible that hotels will keep on operating, unless international investors consider appropriate to take those capitals to other countries, too”.

Flores affirmed that they expected the government to give them, at least, five years, because just “the formal liquidation of a company takes around three years in the Superintendence of Companies”.

María Augusta Díaz, president of the Nacional Association of wners and Administrators of Gambling Halls (Anpasju), warned that “this week there will be social chaos”, because “people will be fired and they will expect to be paid the fortnight, and at this moment there is no money for liquidations”.

In Ecuador, there are 120 gambling venues, which employ around 3,500 people. “If a company has 15 gambling venues and their commodities are the machines, they will have to be taken out of the country, but, in order to do that, they must have complied with the obligations with the workers, but no one has the money to do it”, she stated. For Díaz, “the solution was to execute a trust fund for each company so the bigger ones contribute with the sale of commodities, while a tidy liquidation is being performed”.