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04.07.19 2 NEWS FROM PAGE 1 The extension was granted without a call for tenders hav- ing been issued. Dragonara Gaming current- ly pays €1.2 million in rent an- nually under a 10-year lease agreement awarded by ten- der in 2010, according to the company's financial accounts. But under the renewed lease piloted by Cardona, the casino will only be paying €500,000 for the first 15 years of its 64-year term. Moreover, for the remaining 50 years Dragonara will only pay €1 million a year subject to an increase of 5% every five years thereafter, with the first increase being applicable on the 21st year. Savings of €13.5 million are the bare minimum which Dragonara will be enjoying based upon its current annual rent of €1.2 million. However, as had happened in 2015, when the rent was increased by 15% for a five- year period, further similar increases would have likely been included under any 10 or 20-year lease extensions awarded by tender. The amounts paid under Dragonara's current lease agreement are specified un- der point 11 of Dragonara Gaming Limited's annual re- port and financial statement for the period ended 30 June 2012. The new annual and tempo- rary sub-ground rent terms for the extended lease are, on the other hand, clearly speci- fied in section 2.1 of the deed between Casma and Drago- nara Gaming Limited, which was tabled by Cardona in Par- liament on 26 June 2019. With the motion approved, the lease between Casma Ltd – the government-owned company with which Drago- nara currently have a 10-year lease agreement which ex- pires next year – and Drag- onara Gaming has been ex- tended for 64 years. Industry operators told BusinessToday they were stumped by the news of the 'unfair' agreement having been reached without any competitive process. One operator told this news- paper that, like many others in the industry, he had been expecting a call for tenders to be issued for the lease con- cession, and that he had been considering the possibility of entering a competitive bid. In 1999 and 2010 the lease agreement had been renewed after a call for tenders was is- sued and awarded to Drago- nara Gaming. Moreover, the operator said they were bewildered as to how, when Cardona present- ed the motion in Parliament asking for approval for the lease extension, the Oppo- sition had kept mum on the matter. This did not go down well with the other industry play- ers, with one businessman complaining that no infor- mation had emerged from Parliament about the terms according to which the lease had been extended. "We were very surprised, and we still need to under- stand what it actually means, because so little information has been forthcoming," he told this newspaper. "It's amazing that no ques- tions were raised by the Opposition, which is quite concerning and makes it ap- parent that nobody is scru- tinising such lease conces- sions. At the very least it should have asked what the terms of the extension were," they said. The operator emphasised that on the surface, the ex- tension was "very unfair" and was a "closed-door deal". The sources said they would be considering all options af- ter they acquired more infor- mation about the extension's terms. Motion not brought up for discussion within PN parliamentary group within sufficient time BusinessToday reached out to Nationalist Party whip Robert Cutajar to ask why PN MPs had voted in favour of the motion on Tuesday, but no reply was forthcoming by the time of going to print. Other sources said the mo- tion granting the concession of the land to Dragonara Ca- sino had not been brought up for discussion within the Nationalist Party's parliamen- tary group ahead of Tuesday's sitting. The sources laid the blame squarely at the feet of MP Kristy Debono, the PN's economy spokesperson, who they said had failed to notify the group within enough time for this to be discussed prop- erly. On the night, when the motion was presented in Par- liament, most of the opposi- tion MPs had already left the Chamber to attend a House committee sitting. Casma Ltd may administer site as it deems appropriate – government On its part, the Economy Min- istry has defended the course of action it chose to take, insisting that the site in question consist- ed of private land which was under Casma Ltd's administra- tion, under a title of temporary emphyteusis. A ministry spokesper- son said the site was "at no point" owned or managed by the central government, the Lands Authority, or its prede- cessor the Lands Department. "As such, Casma Ltd may administer the site and dis- pose of same as it may deem most appropriate and in the best interest of the Maltese economy," the ministry said. Cardona, it added, had pre- sented the motion in Parlia- ment because he had deemed it appropriate "for the sake of transparency." tion granting the concession of the land to Dragonara Ca- sino had not been brought up for discussion within the Nationalist Party's parliamen- tary group ahead of Tuesday's sitting. squarely at the feet of MP Kristy Debono, the PN's economy spokesperson, who they said had failed to notify the group within enough time The renewed lease piloted by Cardona will see the casino only paying €500,000 for the first 15 years of its 64-year term Gaming industry operators fuming at 'unfair' treatment "It's amazing that no questions were raised by the Opposition...makes it apparent that nobody is scrutinising such lease concessions"

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