OREANDA-NEWS. February 19, 2008. Storm International`s new project targeted at international development is presented in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The company is planning to complete the re-construction of a 4+ star hotel and introduce a casino in July this year, together with local partners.

The gambling law that was arbitrarily introduced at the end of 2006, requiring the elimination of the entire existing gaming business within Russia, to be replaced with four special zones, has speeded up the company`s plans on expansion into foreign markets. At present Russia`s largest casino operator, as well as all other existing gaming operators do not considers any of the proposed zones to be attractive for the gaming business. As an example, every capital city in Europe has legal casinos, Paris being the only exception but there are many other cities in France that have casinos and no other European country has designated `zones` for obvious reasons.

“Needless to say, the new law shocked us,” comments Michael Boettcher, President of Storm International. “But we had known before that there are many countries aware of the economic advantages of the gaming business, provided that it is properly regulated and approached in a responsible manner. Now we are actively expanding into the markets of these countries. Also, as Storm`s name has become better known, we are constantly receiving new proposals from those interested in introducing or upgrading the gaming business in their own jurisdictions, having heard about the closures in Russia.”

“Shangri La” Casino in Yerevan became the first project of this kind – the largest in Armenia, its opening scheduled for April. The casino hotel in Costa Rica is the next step.

The World Bank lauds the country as possessing "one of the most stable and robust" democracies” and "a healthy economic growth rate". The country is popular with tourists – the turnover of the tourist industry is USD 1.7 billion. The HORECA industry accounts for about 12% of the GDP with an annual turnover growth rate of nearly 10%.

Re-construction will include a 60-room hotel, including a casino, several bars and restaurants. The planned area of the property is about 3500 sqm. There is also a plan to purchase a building adjacent to the existing hotel in order to provide additional facilities including a multi-level parking facility.

The casino will, as always, meet Storm International`s highest standards, an obvious competitive advantage, as the majority of similar properties in the country do not meet high requirements from the perspective of security and quality of service. The casino is planned to have 10 gaming tables and 170 slot machines with the option of expanding as business increases.

The investment is approximately $5 million. The management team will all be from Storm International, with the usual mix of nationalities, including top Russian management personnel. All personnel either speak or have taken courses in Spanish, being the main language of Costa Rica. There are several other projects in various stages of implementation.