Cyprus license procedure to start in September

The selected operator will be able to develop a large casino resort and four smaller satellite locations throughout the island that will be the first-ever casinos in Southern Cyprus.

The Operations and Casino Control Legislation of 2015 was approved earlier this month and enacted into Law upon its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic on July 21. The legislation authorises a single casino resort license for 30 years with a 15-year period of exclusivity and establishes a National Gaming and Casino Commission to oversee the sector.

In September 2015, the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism has been tasked to start a competitive, non-discriminatory and transparent two-stage procedure to select the license holder. Operators including Las Vegas Sands, Caesars Entertainment and Genting Bhd have already expressed interest, as well as several local operators.

The plan is to create an integrated resort that competes with the best in the world and the main facility requires an investment of €500m (USD 550M). Together with an economic restructuring in 2013, the privatisation of major ports and marinas, as well as a new government, Cyprus is a more appealing place to invest and an ideal tourist destination.

Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Tiorgos Lakkotrypis, explained the licensing procedure is divided into two parts. “First, an invitation for an expression of interest will be announced out of which three bidders will emerge who will have to submit a binding bid in the second stage,” said the minister in an interview to state radio CyBc.

Lakkotrypis said that for the casino investment to be commercially viable, it would have to attract at least 500,000 tourists each year. Visitors, he added, are expected to fly to Cyprus from countries within a four-hour flight, such as Russia and other European and Gulf countries. Parliament will be informed of the selection criteria of bidders at each stage.