Operator News
Argentina – Government extends Buenos Aires casino tender deadline
By Phil - 20 March 2018
The government has announced that the date for the opening of bids for the public tender for seven casinos in the province of Buenos Aires has been extended until June 27.
The additional 90 day will allow operators time to come forward with their proposals, according to the government’s Official Gazette, which was signed by Matías Lanusse the head of the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos (IPLyC). The extension covers the 3,860 slot machines operating in the Casino Central in Mar del Plata, as well as the casinos in the cities of Monte Hermoso, Pinamar, the Trilenium casino in Tigre (one of the largest casinos in the region), as well as the state owned casinos in the cities of Miramar, Tandil and the Hermitage casino, also located in Mar del Plata.
The opening of bids will be held between June 11 and 27 in the Office of Provincial Administration and Finance. Licences will run for a period of twenty years, with the possibility of an extension for one additional year.
The tender process for the 3,860 slot machines operating in the seven casinos was made official after Resolution 34/2018 appeared on January 30 in the government’s Official Gazette. According to the resolution, the new operator will need to invest in much needed building and infrastructure improvements and is permitted to build additional entertainment facilities.
The purpose of the tender will be to “contract the provision and maintenance of automated gaming machines, the on-line control of the same, the remodelling, construction and / or cession and enhancement of the different gaming rooms and a variety of complementary services and annexes to gaming activity ” according to the resolution. The last casino tender in Buenos Aires province was in 1999, and since then all licence extensions and licences have been granted by resolutions or by decree.
In January Governor María Eugenia Vidal announced that as part of the restructuring process that she would also cancel the casino licences of Mar de Ajó, Valeria del Mar and Necochea, as well as the bingo hall in the city of Temperley in order to reduce gaming.
Both the closure of the casinos as well as the new licensing process has led to an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the government and trade unions. Last week workers joined forces in the coastal city of Mar del Tuyú against the closure of gambling halls in the province. Joined by gaming union The Association of Management and Maintenance Services for Casinos (AMS) employees travelled from the Casino de Mar de Ajó to the Municipality of the Partido de La Costa to state their case and obtain a response from the Mayor, Juan Pablo De Jesús.
Roberto Páez General Secretary of the AMS highlighted the economic impact that the casino closure would have on the local economy and job losses in the future. “The governor, clearly, does not care about the workers. We need to be heard and the mayor, as a representative of the people, needs to get involved and take a stand in safeguarding the interests of those who live and work in the locality,” he said.
