Supplier News
Greece – Debts mount for Greek casinos
By Phil - 31 December 2013
Greek casinos owe their government between €100,000 and €30m, according to the Supreme Court Deputy prosecutor Nikos Pantelis.
The debts have mounted from value-added tax that has not yet been paid and from entry tickets into the casinos that some operators have failed to pay to the state.
Whilst Mr. Pantelis didn’t reveal the details of which casinos owed what money, reports out of Greece have stated that the Loutraki casino, located to the west of Athens and one of the country’s two leading casinos, reportedly owes around €30m in unpaid taxes. The two Hyatt Regency casinos at Mont Parnes and in Thessaloniki do not owe the government any of the tax alluded by the Supreme Court.
2013 marked the bewildered sector’s fifth consecutive year of decline with GGR from January to August dropping by 9.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. Many operators are now jostling to relocate or worse; close. Turnover for the first eight months Loutraki was down 15.2 per cent to €55.3m despite attendance improving by 11.3 per cent to reach 468,852. The operator is hoping to change its corporate identity from a consortium to a company.
