Supplier News
Chile – Marina del Sol claims no irregularities in bidding process for Chillán
By Phil - 24 May 2016
The President of Chilean company Marina del Sol, Nicolás Imschenetzky has denied irregularities in the bidding process for the casino licence in Chillán and has laid the blame for the delay on his competitor Boldt-Peralada.
“We hope that the end of the litigation will come soon which has unfortunately taken quite some time and it has been detrimental to the economy for the city because at this stage the casino should already be open and generating taxes,” he said.
The Boldt-Peralada group announced in April that it would appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling last month emitted by one of Chile’s highest courts. The court upheld the recent vote of the governing Regional Council (GORE) which declared that the Boldt Peralada projected site for the casino in Chillan was too close to an educational-establishment and violated aspects of Regional Development Strategy. As a result Boldt-Peralada has appealed to the Supreme Court.
Last week the group also put in a request before the Comptroller General of Chile (General Accounting Office) raising questions over the licensing process specifically regarding the Chilean Gaming Control Board’s alleged failure to deliver a report to the proper authorities on time which would have ruled out Marina del Sol from the bidding process. The report, which was prepared in May 2015, argued, according to local press reports, that the company had not complied with the requirement to have in place the necessary legal financial support in terms of a bank guarantee during the tender process.
When it comes to the latest appeal to the Comptroller’s office by Boldt-Peralada Imschenetzky said: “This is nothing new. Maybe they do not feel confident that the process will end well for them. What has happened in Chillán is precisely what we must prevent from happening during the bidding for the municipal licences. It is the time to intervene to make sure that these processes go well and with a low chance of being caught up in litigation.”
Mr. Imschenetzky also told local press that the company had not ruled out taking part in the bidding for the new municipal licences. “We are hopeful and interested but we have to analyse the basis and how one can or not bid for each one. There are special requirements in each city. Also a different bidding mechanism for each one. But the numbers which are being talked about are very large.”
The seven new licences are available after President Michelle Bachelet signed into law new regulations, which extend the licenses of the seven municipal casinos. The new rules extend the licenses until December 2017 in the districts of Vina del Mar, Arica, Iquique, Puerto Varas, Coquimbo, Pucon and Puerto Natales, which all expired on December 31, 2015.
