The State collected around €90 million from taxes and levies on the operation of the City of Dreams Mediterranean casino resort and satellite casinos.
The data covers the period from June 2018 to the present.
During the discussion of the budgets of the National Betting Authority and Casino Supervision in the Parliamentary Committee on Economics, the President of the Authority, Christos Mavrellis, stated that the casino operator received gross gaming revenue of €421 million.
“After the resort’s opening, revenues increased significantly, and in the following years, revenues are expected to further increase,” he added.
It is noted that the temporary casino operated in Limassol in June 2018, which concluded its operations last June with the opening of the resort casino. It is also noted that since 2019, three satellite casinos have been operating in Nicosia, Paphos, and Ayia Napa.
Mr. Mavrellis, referring to the profitability of the company that invested €600 million, stated that “they are not very profitable, as it is a large investment, a large loan was taken, and then the war in Gaza broke out.” As he said, immediately after the opening of the resort casino, it became apparent that the first months of operation were going very well, emphasizing that the war in Gaza affected the casino’s performance.
He also mentioned that despite the war, Israelis have started returning to the resort casino recently.
Regarding the other services provided by the resort casino, such as the hotel, etc., Mr. Mavrellis noted that the event space works efficiently, pointing out that the hotel had high returns. He also stated that a total of 1950 people are employed.
He also emphasized that the war in Israel prevented tourist agents from making agreements. According to the president of the National Casino Authority, the casino operator has applied to expand the Nicosia casino and add additional gaming tables, something that, he said, will prevent players from going to the occupied casinos.
As he explained, the request submitted is to place additional tables and slot machines in the Nicosia casino, emphasizing that “if this happens, the way the State imposes levies on the operator will change.”
