The Primorsky Krai Development Corporation or KRPK, the Russian company tasked with the development of the Primorye gambling zone, has confirmed that work can start in September.

The construction will also be overseen by Asia-Invest Group LLC which has already committed $34 million but could not execute plans any earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asgam, a media focusing on the Asian gambling industry reported.

Project Finally Cleared and Taking Shape after COVID-19 Delays

A building permit has finally been obtained, allowing the project to move forward with the first stage of the project to be completed on August 20, 2025. Asia-Invest Group director Alexander Kim:

Currently, we are negotiating with contractors for earthworks, laying engineering networks on the site and developing interior design, and the project estimate documentation is also being prepared.

Asia-Invest Group director Alexander Kim

The project will begin with a main structure which will be completed by March 2, 2024, and the casino should be live along with that. The casino itself has not yet been approved, but the group confirmed that it’s expecting the documentation to be finalized.

This way, the casino should be getting at least 200 slot machines and 30 gaming tables, to begin with. No further plans for the expansion of the property have been revealed as of right now.

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KRAIL, the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, has said that it has been able to shut down more than 1,000 illegal gambling sites. The regulator said that it had a list of 1,895 unlicensed operators that continued to target citizens in the country, with the majority of those websites now restricted.

Illegal Gambling Sites Dropping Like Flies

However, 727 websites are still in operation and continue to find loopholes to provide Ukrainians with gambling products. KRAIL though is stepping up its effort to bring these websites to a halt, with the regulator working closely with a number of enforcement agencies to succeed. Some operators, though, have been elusive, and continue to brand their products as legitimate offerings in the market.

They have been aggressively hosting mirror websites to try and continue to squeeze out profit from residents in the country. KRAIL has called on the government and various divisions of the judiciary and law enforcement to pool their efforts and crack down on such rogue operations through better coordination.

The regulator will continue to use all available solutions and seek further assistance from relevant authorities to ensure that illegal gambling is restricted. The war that Russia waged on Ukraine in February and that has been ongoing has been a test for the regulator’s ability to operate.

Bad Actors Need to Go, More Coordination Underway

Many bad actors from Russia tried to target vulnerable Ukrainians with casino websites intended to siphon off more money from the country. Such websites have been swiftly hindered, but many still remain.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, recently issued a blocking order for a number of gambling websites in Ukraine, attempting to target even more operators that the country has deemed to be a threat to its citizens and national security.

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Developer and operator of casino resorts around the world, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), outlined what progress the business registered on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives set out for the 2021-2025 period in its 2022 (ESG) report.

The 2022 ESG report tracks the progress on the ambitious goals LVS has set out for its performance by 2025, striving to reach certain targets based on three pillars – People, Communities and Planet.

“We set targets that push the company to achieve tangible results, and the work we have outlined toward these ambitions has put us on a solid track to reach our goals,” commented Katarina Tesarova, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer of LVS, pointing to a “full range of core priorities” under these three pillars “that have also produced significant impact” and are reflected in the report.

Workforce Development

Sands’ corporate responsibility program through 2025 seeks to invest $200 million in workforce development initiatives, and in 2022, the hospitality operator invested $56 million to reach a total of $113 million since the start of the program in 2021.

Money invested in People in 2022 supported core initiatives aimed at advancing team members and local talents such as the Sands Academy Team Member training and development program and the Sands China financial support, invitational matching, and training and development (F.I.T.) program for small and medium enterprises.

Volunteer Work for Communities

Under the Community pillar in 2022, Sands exceeded the target set out for 2025 by reaching 192,330 Team Member volunteer hours contribution to date. Contributions included extensive volunteer support for Macau initiatives related to the pandemic such as community testing and vaccinations.

The target set for the end of the five-year program is 150,000 volunteer hours in support of local communities and having reached it in 2022, the company plans to set a new 2025 target this year and will reveal the new target in its 2023 ESG report.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Energy Use Reduction

Using its 2018 greenhouse gas emissions reduction level of 17,5% as a baseline for its 2025 emissions reduction goal, Sands reported that its emissions remained significantly below the baseline in 2022, achieving a 50% reduction.

Sands implemented numerous emissions reduction projects while its property visitations were impacted by the pandemic to ensure the business remains on track to meet its 2025 target when visitations are expected to pick up and the business is expected to increase energy consumption.

In 2022, energy use was reduced via the installation of property controls across 3,300 hotel rooms which allowed the consumption to be reduced while guests are away, and the shift from hard-to-convert incandescent and fluorescent lighting to LED solutions.

In addition, the company purchased 151,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy certificates and generated an additional 235 megawatt hours from solar panels, while Sands properties began transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles.

Sands’ ESG achievements in 2022 were recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) World for a third consecutive year and the DJSI North America for the seventh time, while Sands China appeared on the DJSI World for the first time and the DJSI Asia Pacific for the second.

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Thanks to this new partnership, the Venezuela-based Track and Races will be able to significantly strengthen its iGaming library, bolstered by a range of products provided by Pragmatic Play.

Pragmatic Play will leverage its slots and live casino portfolio to considerably strengthen Track and Races’ reach in the local market and offer players an excellent variety of quality and added-value products.

Track and Races will benefit from hit games such as Book of Golden Sands, Octobeer Fortunes, and Gates of Olympus among others.

This slot selection will be strengthened by the addition of excellent live casino titles by Pragmatic, including Roulette, Blackjack, and some of the gameshow style titles, such as Mega Wheel and Sweet Bonanza CandyLand.

More games will be coming in future, the partners assured. Pragmatic Play also intends to launch its Virtual Sports product to give its Venezuelan partner an even stronger boost in the iGaming segment and its verticals.

Boosting the Experience for Players in Venezuela

Pragmatic Play VP of Latin American operations Victor Arias welcomed this fresh opportunity and spoke highly of the operator and the opportunity that both Pragmatic Play and Track and Races now had:

Venezuela is another important region for the Pragmatic Play team in LatAm, and Track and Races represents another valuable alliance through which we can maintain our reputation of providing the best in online casino entertainment.

Pragmatic Play VP of Latin American operations Victor Arias

Track and Races’ Carlos Gonzalez was similarly pleased with the chance to considerably grow the operator’s library and variety of options for consumers. He argued that while operators face daily challenges to engage with players, the addition of content by Pragmatic Play is a strong way to send a message to consumers that Track and Races in particular is committed to the best player experiences possible.

“We’re looking forward to working with Victor’s team and rolling out more quality play options,” Gonzalez concluded. Pragmatic Play recently expanded in the region through a partnership with Jacare.bet, focusing on the Brazilian iGaming market.

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