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Paraguay – Paraguay to name new Alto Paraná casino operator at end of November

By - 12 November 2018

The opening of the three envelopes for a new casino tender is scheduled for November 30 for a casino licence in the Paraguayan Department of Alto Paraná.

Three companies have put forward a bid for the hotel and casino according to José Antonio Ortiz Báez, the new head of the gaming commission (CONAJZAR). According to Báez, the exact location of the new casino is yet to be decided upon as it will be up to those taking part to decide on where in Alto Paraná they plan to build the casino.

The evaluation committee will be formed once a full meeting of the gaming board had been held he said. Once that is over, other details regarding the process will be revealed Báez told local radio station Monumental 1080 AM. “There are three companies that submitted their offer which are to be reviewed on November 30,” the official said.

These are Casinos Paraguayos SA, an offer put forward by businessman Antonio Aranda Encina and LAGG Paraguay SA.
The new tender is the first since the failure of what could have been a major casino investment in Paraguay. In January then head of the gaming commission Javier Balbuena confirmed the cancellation of the construction of a casino and hotel on the eleven-hectare site owned by the National Administration of Navigation and Ports (ANNP). The ANNP property is located at the head of the Friendship Bridge (Puente de la Amistad) – an arch bridge connecting the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu and Ciudad del Este.

Former president Horacio Cartes authorised the call for tender and in March 2017. However, the building of the large-scale casino was the subject of considerable controversy from the very beginning. Union officials had rejected the use of the land as they argued that it violated the use of commercial, financial, or industrial operations, which are not in keeping with the port’s main objective. They also claimed that the concession of the 11-hectare site was carried out without the approval of the Board of the ANNP.

Charges were also put forward against the mayor of Ciudad del Este Sandra McLeod de Zacarías Irún as well as a number of ex city officials over accusations that they had unlawfully paved the way for the use of the institution’s land valued at around US$185m for the construction of the hotel and casino.

Caption: José Antonio Ortiz Báez

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