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Uruguay – Uruguayan operator wants to hand casino back to the state

By - 18 November 2015

A company that operates a casino in the city of Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay is evaluating the possibility of returning the casino to the state after it reported poor returns.

Conrado Diaz, legal advisor and spokesman of the company Tirley SA, explained that the firm is in “negotiations” with the Directorate General of State Casinos, which could lead to the casino opting out of the so called mixed system.

“In the process of negotiation, which I understand to be in a quite advanced stage and is not closed, the Directorate General of State Casinos intends to keep the gaming room and directly exploit it on behalf of the state,” he said. The representative of Tirley SA which operates both the casino and the Radisson hotel described a “pretty” deficient economic performance for the casino, which had led to the company’s decision.

The Head of The Uruguayan Casino Control Board Javier Chá said the board is holding a number of meetings with the licence holder and confirmed that there was an option on the table to return the casino licences back to the state. He also said that he would consult with the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies over the issue later on this week.

According to the Secretary of the Association of State Casinos Officials, José Alberto Avenatti the company plans to “deliver” the casino to the state although exactly when is unclear. “Officially we have nothing, but we know it is imminent,” he said.

The news could have a direct effect on the debate over Uruguay’s gambling laws, discussions over which are set to begin this week.

Deputy Jorge Gandini said that the failure of the casino is a clear example that the mixed system is not working and said that the system was running into difficulties especially in Uruguay’s interior. He also said that he would bring this up during the debate and that a number of recent openings had been “questionable.”

Under the mixed system private investors can set up a casino in a hotel but it is the state that manages and runs the casino for which it receives in return between 35 per cent and 45 per cent a percentage of casino profit. The mixed system has been in place in Uruguay since 1996.

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