Owners of Malta-based Dragonara Casino filed a lawsuit against the country’s government and its decision to award hospitality and entertainment company Eden Leisure Group with a casino license. The said license was granted in 2014.
Dragonara Casino owners have asked the court to annul the selection process that resulted in Eden Leisure being chosen as the preferred candidate for the new casino’s development. In addition, they have stated that the whole process should be reopened and the applications for the casino license should be reviewed more carefully.
What is more, owners of the St. Julian’s-based gambling venue also said that the bidding process, which had been conducted by the country’s Privatization Unit, had been “vitiated.” The government, on the other hand, stated that the selection of Eden Leisure as the preferred bidder for the license was the result from a transparent consideration of all key points.
The legal dispute between the two parties stems from the issuance of expression of interest request for a new gambling license back in May 2013. The government wanted to grant a ten-year concession to the preferred candidate. There were two bidders for the license – Eden Leisure, which wanted to open a gambling venue at the Intercontinental Hotel, and Dragonara Limited, which expressed interest in adding a casino at San Antonio Hotel.
Although the Dragonara project was more than three times more expensive than the Eden Leisure one, the government decided to grant the new casino license to the latter company. Dragonara wanted to open a €4.3-million casino compared to Eden Leisure’s €1.2-million gambling facility.
Commenting on its decision, the government said back than that it had selected the less expensive project as it might eventually prove to be the more profitable one, especially in terms of gambling tax revenue.
The government announced that it had chosen Eden Leisure’s proposed casino over Dragonara’s in October 2014. At that time, officials also promised that an additional concession might be given, so that Dragonara could complete its project as well. Dragonara owners said that an agreement for the opening of a new concession was reached with the government in April 2015. However, the Privatization Unit did not adhere to its commitment.
Owners of the existing Dragonara Casino said that they had filed a lawsuit against Malta’s Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna, Minister for Economy, Chris Cardona, the Privatization Unit Chairman, as well as against Eden Leisure. All involved parties did not admit any wrongdoing and claimed that the selection process was transparent.
