Earlier today, the casino's employees were informed that the business is closing and will not reopen. A total of around 240 employees are affected.
"Although we share the parliament's and government's assessment, it's emotionally tough since an era is ending when we now close the casino in Stockholm. As an employer, we will do everything we can to support our fantastic employees. From a business perspective, it's the right decision to close immediately since the business has been operating at a loss for a longer period," says CEO Ola Enquist in a press release.
Closed Down
The proposal for state-owned casinos was passed in parliament in 1999, but one by one, the operations have been shut down. After the closures in Sundsvall, Gothenburg, and Malmö, the casino in Stockholm was the only one left, but the pandemic hit the business hard. Since then, they have struggled with declining revenues in competition with primarily online casinos.
A couple of weeks ago, parliament also voted in favor of the government's proposal to remove Svenska Spel's opportunity to operate physical casinos.
To Be Sold
"For over 20 years, Casino Cosmopol has offered an international casino experience to guests from around the world. It's sad for our employees that the last casino has now closed, but at the same time, it will give us the opportunity to focus on growth in our other businesses," says Anna Johnson, CEO and Group CEO of Svenska Spel in a press release.
The culturally listed property in central Stockholm, where the casino has operated, will now be sold by Svenska Spel.
