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Bloomberg News<\/strong> reports the following: Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong>, the world’s biggest casino company, may build a resort on the Azov Sea<\/strong>, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. <\/em><\/p>\n Harrah’s may join U.S. construction company Asati<\/strong> in building a complex in Azov-City<\/strong><\/a>, one of four gambling zones planned in the country, Vedomosti said, citing Asati founder Alex Kogan<\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n The resort, which will include a casino, hotels and conference centers, will cost between $50 million and $100 million, Kogan said<\/em>.<\/p>\n Wow! Try building a U.S. resort — or even a Macanese one — for so little money. I’ve asked Harrah’s for confirmation but have yet to hear back. Although several overseas ventures have gone belly-up, the company continues to persist.<\/p>\n However …<\/strong> despite the Russian government’s decree that all casinos be moved to special zones, scattered around the far reaches of the empire, little headway has been made<\/a>: “One Russian publication sent a reporter to check out progress on one of the zones, who discovered open fields filled with grazing cows<\/em>.” The Azov-City project, for one, has a long way to go.<\/p>\n And how is Harrah’s\/<\/span>Asati going to build a casino for $100 million or less? One word: tents. “Several foreign investors have begun preparatory work, including the Austrian company Asati. The company plans to build on the 20 hectares of inflatable structures, area of 100 thousand square meters<\/em>,” explains one investment site, “… the inflatable structure can be a casino and a water park and the congress hall. In addition to inflatable structures Asati company intends to build a 17-storey hotel and 34 bungalows<\/em>.”<\/p>\n If there’s to be gambling under a big top, I’d suggest they call the place Circus Circus<\/strong>, but Jay Sarno<\/strong> got there first. Potential feeder markets for “Harrahs’ Azov” would include Kiev<\/strong> and Odessa<\/strong>, but the closest major city appears to be Stalingrad<\/strong> … er, Volgograd<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Yung & the restless:<\/strong> Closer to home, in Kentucky<\/strong>, the grand vizier of Columbia Sussex<\/strong>, CEO William J. Yung III<\/strong>, is loaning out the corporate locomotive<\/a> for charitable causes. Company locomotive? No, we’re not making this up.<\/p>\n Restiveness marks the labor situation at one of the distant outposts<\/a> of Yung’s hotel empire. Both in the slow pace of negotiations and the demand for employee give-backs, it’s very reminiscent of the scrumdown that was the Culinary Union<\/strong>\/ColSux stalemate of two years back. At least Scott Butera<\/strong> intervened to make peace before it reached the point of a Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong> boycott.<\/p>\n Small beer?<\/strong> Just what Resorts International<\/strong> in Atlantic City<\/strong> needs … more regulatory problems. C’mon, guys. We hook up beer kegs all the time here at LVA<\/em>. It’s not rocket science. Then again, it’s difficult to “misunderestimate” Colony Capital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bloomberg News reports the following: Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s biggest casino company, may build a resort on the Azov Sea, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. Harrah’s may join U.S. construction company Asati in building a complex in Azov-City, one of four gambling … Continue reading