PN organ says MIP chief executive dissented on casino concession

A technical committed led by retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia recommended that Dragonara Gaming Limited, the company running the Dragonara casino, be ranked first for a new casino concession which is currently being contested in court.

The company was granted a second concession after the Eden Leisure Group was granted the concession, which government issued in an expression of interest in 2013. But Dragonara Gaming are contesting the validity of issuing two concessions and claims it should have been ranked first.

According to PN organ In-Nazzjon, the technical committee was unanimous in its agreement that both Dragonara Gaming and Eden Leisure Group qualified under seven different criteria.

But in terms of the up front concession payment – as has been revealed by MaltaToday – Dragonara Gaming offered a €4,379,505 offer as against Eden’s €1,250,000; while on five other criteria, the majority of the technical committee bar one agreed that Dragonara Gaming Limite’s offer was superior to Eden’s.

In-Nazzjon claims that it was Joshua Zammit, the chief executive of the Malta Industrial Parks and until recently a president of the Malta Employers Association, who dissented on the technical committee vote.

Eden Leisure has backed up its demand for a casino with a €31 million expansion of its hotel in St George’s Bay.