The second casino to be built in Russia’s Primorye Economic Zone, Shambhala, will hold its long-awaited grand opening this Friday.
The RUB$3.5 billion (US$45 million) project, which held a soft opening in September to test drive equipment and operations, will feature 5,200 square meters of gaming space, a restaurant, two fast food venues and a theater upon launch, with development of a second phase planned to get underway from 2022.
Once fully complete, Shambhala will boast a range of hotels, restaurants and bars, a golf course, amusement park, water park, diving club and other family and sports recreation facilities. Total coast is projected to reach RUB8 billion (US$104 million).
According to Primorsky Krai Development Corporation, the new casino will attract around 100,000 people to Primorye each year.
“We are not going to become a closed club for the elite,” said General Director of Shambhala CJSC, Maxim Smolentsev.
“Our casino will be truly popular – a place where people are always in a good mood, where each guest is a part of a large, incessant holiday and can have a pleasant time, regardless of how much they are ready to bet on the game.”
Shambhala represents the second major casino operation to open in the region following the launch of Tigre de Cristal in 2015, while NagaCorp and Diamond Fortune are also involved in ongoing developments. It is projected that by the time NagaCorp opens its property in 2022, around 1.2 million tourists will head to the gambling zone each year.
