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EEEP: Today the fate of the casinos of Rio and Alexandroupolis is decided by Kostas Piladakis

of Matinas Harkoftaki

Today, the fate of the casinos in Rio and Alexandroupolis is being decided as the Gambling Supervision and Control Committee (GSC) is expected to meet and decide whether it will finally suspend their operation.

Behind the management of the two casinos is the businessman Costas Piladakis, who also owns the Corfu casino, which in turn is expected to be under the microscope of the Commission at a meeting to be held next week and during which it will be discussed separately. and the case with the casino in Loutraki.

The huge debts of the casinos of Rio and Alexandroupolis to EFKA, which are estimated to now exceed 30 million euros, do not leave much room and consequently the EEEP is seriously considering the possibility of revoking their operating license.

It should be noted that according to the current legislation, the casino companies are obliged to pay every month the obligations they have to the public and the IKA, while in the opposite case the license is temporarily revoked for a period of two months and if the non-fulfillment of the obligations continues. then it is not excluded that there will be a final revocation of the license.

Recourse to the out-of-court mechanism

For its part, the company of Mr. Piladakis, who about a year ago moved the headquarters of all three casinos in Corfu, claims that he has submitted a request to join the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism, a move which for a certain period of time offers in the business a regime of protection from its creditors.

Therefore, in case the well-known businessman presents the protocol number of this request before the Commission, then even at the last minute he will avoid the suspension of the casinos in Rio and Alexandroupolis, as sources with knowledge on the subject point out in Capital.gr.

Otherwise, the decision to revoke the license is a one-way street, according to the same sources, however Mr. Piladakis has the ability to challenge the specific decision and possibly succeed in revoking it.

It should be noted that Mr. Piladakis’s company had submitted requests for amendment of the terms of the consolidation agreement of 2015, which regulated the repayment of its debts, requests which were rejected by the Greek court due to the non-participation of EFKA in the amendment of the agreement. consolidation, as pointed out in the published financial statements of Corfu Casino for the financial year 2020, which refer to loans of 149 million euros.

Excessive debts delay the achievement of any deal

According to capital.gr, lawyer Theodoros Chronopoulos, who represents 37 employees of the casino in Rio, who are asking for their earnings, the total debts of the company that manages the three casinos currently amount to 224 million euros, of which of which 30 million euros are the debts to EFKA, 33 million euros to the tax office and 161 million euros to Intrum Hellas (which is the loan manager of Piraeus Bank).

In addition, according to Mr. Chronopoulos, the casino in Rio owes rents amounting to 700,000 euros to the owner of the property, from which he rents the building.

As for now, the interest shown by two investment schemes from Israel for the acquisition of the three casinos of Kostas Piladakis (in one participate two shareholders of Brown Hotels and in the other the Israelis, who manage the casino in Loutraki), The enormous burdens and litigation of the company foreshadow a long process, which, according to experts on the subject, may take up to a year to reach any agreement.

Source: Capital

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