Summit Ascent, still the main investment choice in the budding Primorye region of Russia, is breaking out. The casino continues to be one of my favored long term holds in the gambling industry, and I see no reason why that should change any time soon. Russia continues to be one of the more stable regions in the world right now, politically, monetarily, and socially.

Politically, there is no danger of a major breakup as there is in Europe or the United Kingdom, both of which may see their unions disintegrate in the near future. Monetarily, Russia has remained conservative and responsible throughout the pandemic, not increasing government spending that much as other western countries have been spending in ways that would embarrass a particularly profligate drunken sailor. Socially, Russia is gradually opening up its borders, and Vladimir Putin has indicated that the country plans no future lockdowns for any second wave.

As to the social point, the latest move by the Russian Foreign Ministry to open up travel from 16 countries including Primorye’s next door neighbor Japan, probably has something to do with Summit’s 100% plus rally since the beginning of October. Make your own judgments as to the wisdom of this of course, but the fact that Russia is specifically opening up in the midst of a second wave and a new high in daily coronavirus deaths, I believe is proving to investors that the lockdown days in Russia are in fact over, come what may. Since Russia is pretty much in the grip of Putin, what he says goes, and he says lockdowns are over. For better or worse, it’s not like other parliamentary democracies where policy decisions have to be made through long drawn out bureaucratic process with a million different pressure points and no one person making any decision. Things go faster, and there is less uncertainty. That has its dangers, obviously, but also its advantages.

Travel has not opened up with China yet, but it will eventually, and when it does, I believe Summit Ascent will take off. In the meantime, the company is digging in its heels, and is in a good position to hibernate for a long time without any strategic or existential danger to it. This it says straight out in its latest interim report page 7 (which could use some copy editing, but I’m pasting it here as is):