Melco International Development (Melco) has questioned the three-month extension by the Cyprus government of the country’s gaming concession deadline, Cyprus media reports. The company, owned by Lawrence Ho, made a joint bid with Hard Rock International and local conglomerate Cyprus Phasouri (Zakaki) Ltd to secure the lucrative 30-year gaming concession, with 15 years of monopoly rights in the Mediterranean country to be granted to the tender winner. However the local government has stated that after the two other remaining bidders, Filipino casino operator NagaCorp Ltd and Cambodia’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp, asked in writing for more time to reach an agreement ‘regarding the land acquisition and time to overcome state bureaucracy’, the local government decided to extend the deadline, The Cyprus Weekly newspaper stated. Cyprus authorities will now extend the planned July 5 deadline to October, with local Cyprus media sources believing the extension by the local Legal and Audit Services department was made due to the assumption that, had the tenders stuck to the original deadline, ‘the casino licensing would have been left with just one bidder’. Dismayed Melco Melco has informed the government in writing of its opposition to the extension decision, insisting that the original timeframes should be followed. “There is certainly an issue of credibility over the procedure and questions regarding the length of the extension,” an insider told The Cyprus Weekly. Questions were also raised in regards to the government’s removal of a ‘sightseeing’ clause in the request for the proposal document, which would force the selecting committee to visit the casinos run by the bidders as part of the selection process. This would give a clear advantage to the Melco-Hard Rock consortium, with ‘venues in 68 countries, including 162 cafes, 23 hotels and 11 casinos’, local media stated. “The clause was optional and we decided that it would have been safer for the procedure not to make use of it in order to avoid any conflict of interest. We already know the bidders’ experience and going there would have not added anything new,” a government source told The Cyprus Weekly. Business Daily sent a comment request to Melco, but hadn’t received a response when this newspaper went to print. Controversy Cyprus style This isn’t the first time the Cyprus gaming tender has been mired in controversy. One of eight initial bidders, Goldenlady consortium, called for an investigation after its US$1.33 billion (MOP10.63 billion) bid was dismissed. At the time, the group claimed the three remaining candidates only intended to spend between US$282 million and US$479 million, Business Daily reported at the time. Melco International and Hard Rock are proposing a resort located in Limassol, the second largest city on the southern coast of the Greek controlled part of Cyprus. NagaCorp is focused on building a resort in Larnaca, while Bloomberry wants to develop in Paphos. The tender instructions allow for the successful bidder to build at least a luxury 500-room hotel, and install 1,000 gaming machines and 100 gaming tables, while most of the remaining areas, such as the location and amenities, are open to competition, Business Daily reported. If Melco’s Cyprus bid is successful, it will be the third casino outside of Macau for Lawrenc Ho, adding to City of Dreams Manila and Tigre de Cristal casino in Vladivostok, Russia.
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