The company that pioneered resort casinos in South Africa with Sun City is planning to take their expertise into Russia. Sun International is considering a major resort development to the south-east of Moscow in partnership with the Russian Belaya Dacha Group, an agro-industrial firm already in a joint venture with IKEA Company. On Saturday the Group will celebrate its founding 88 years ago as a fresh vegetable producer, a business that has now expanded to include Belaya Dacha Development. This subsidiary seeks to develop business, cultural and recreation centres in a socially responsible way in the Moscow Region.

Sun International has completed preparatory work, such as economic impact, feasibility and conceptualization studies, for the casino complex. The project includes Russia’s first PGA-rated championship golf course, 1,000-room luxury hotel and spa, international convention centre, summer and winter sporting facilities and casino. There will also be dachas, the Russian country homes occupied part of the year or rented out as summer retreats in a system dating from the Industrial Revolution that could be considered the predecessor of time-share property. Dachas (dacha means something given) existed before the Industrial Revolution but were initially small estates in the country, bestowed by the Tsar.

Last week the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced major amendments to gambling legislation. According to David Coutts-Trotter, chief executive of Sun International, the final decision to proceed with the project will depend on the development of a suitable regulatory framework for the gambling industry. If the State Duma legislates to push casinos into four remote zones, then the project could be considered too close to the city of Moscow.

The previously poorly regulated gambling industry has increasingly become a problem in Russian society, particularly in Moscow with an estimated 80% of the country’s gambling venues. The bill to allocate relatively unpopulated areas for gambling has already attracted criticism from those who see it causing problems by gambling in the cities forced underground and the subsequent rise in criminal activity.
(E-10.11.06)

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