Casino bidders and ETA haggle over contract
Hellenic Tourism Properties (ETA), the property subsidiary of the Greek National Tourist Organization, will present the two bidders for a 49-percent stake in the Mont Parnes casino with the contract one of them will sign in early June. The two bidding consortiums, which emerged in mid-January, are led by the operators of private Greek casinos. One is headed by Hyatt Regency, operator of the casino next to Thessaloniki’s airport, which has teamed up with construction company Hellenic Technodomiki. The second consortium comprises Club Hotel Loutraki, operator of the Loutraki casino, Piraeus Bank, construction companies K. Balafas, Gekat and Gnomon, and shipowner Marinakis. Representatives of the two bidders met Monday with ETA officials for the second time, to demand changes in the contract. It appears that the greatest hurdle is that the contract provides no guarantee that the Mont Parnes casino would be the only one operating in Attica for the foreseeable future. Both bidders are keen for such a provision to be included, although the Loutraki casino, in the prefecture of Corinth, is easily accessible by highway and a projected suburban railway may make it more convenient for Athenians to travel to Loutraki than to take the winding road up Mt Parnitha or brave the northern Athens traffic to reach the cable car station at the base of the mountain. The winning bidder will also have a first option to another 2 percent of the shares in the casino, which would make it the majority shareholder. ETA has made it clear that the 310 hectares it owns around the casino are not for sale, since they include a protected forest. Athens 2004 and government officials say there has been a gentlemen’s agreement between firms, and that this has prevented time-consuming objections and appeals from arising. Others, however, argue that this could lead the firms to demand, en masse, an increase in fees charged, given that budgets are tight. Moreover, as schedules are also tight, contractors have received promises of rich bonuses for «delivery on time.»
