A highly-placed source in the government of the Bahamas informed the Journal that the offer of Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian was rejected by the Export Import Bank of China.

Recently, Mr. Izmirlian informed the public in a press statement that he was prepared to complete the baha mar project and immediately hire the employees and pay monies owed to sub-contractors.

However, the source said that Mr. Izmirlian’s offer calls on the bank to complete the project estimated at $500 million which includes the cost to complete construction and obligations to sub-contractors that were unpaid. It is the position of the Exim Bank that Mr. Izmirlian or any other potential buyer should purchase the Cable Beach property outright.

Recently, the receiver of the property Accountant Raymond Winder of Deloitte and Touche called on Mr. Izmirlian to make a serious offer through the sales process which has been approved by the Supreme Court and the provisional liquidators.

Mr. Izmirlian’s offer to the bank requires the bank to receive payments on the property when it is operating. But the source said the bank does not wish to be a party in the operations of Baha Mar moving forward.

The source said the rejection of Mr. Izmirlian’s offer does not prohibit him from participating in the process to purchase the property. It is understood that a number of international organisations including the China Construction Company are interested in purchasing the property. In fact, some of these interested investors are doing their due diligence to make an offer to purchase.

The source said the debt owing to Exim Bank is $2.5 billion plus interest and then there are sub-contractors who are owed between $100 million to $125 million. In addition, the cost of construction to complete the property is estimated at a minimum of $300 million.

The question is does the developer Mr. Izmirlian have the ability to pay the debt, open the hotels and generate a profit for the investors?

The other question is can any investor take on these responsibilities and generate a profit to enable the property to be a growing concern or to be viable?

This past weekend a company which leased casino equipment to Baha Mar was removing its equipment because the bank was no longer prepared to continue the lease.

All political leaders in The Bahamas have expressed support for Mr. Izmirlian’s continued involvement in the project. The developer has not only an emotional connection to the property, but since it is his dream and he knows the property, most Bahamians believe that he should be given every opportunity to regain control of Baha Mar.

Earlier this month, Mr. Izmirlian said in a statement that he remains committed to getting Baha Mar completed and opened in the shortest possible time.

“There is no other potential owner who unequivocally has these goals for Baha Mar, for the creditor parties, and for Bahamians. There is no other potential owner, other than us, who has the expertise, capabilities, and commitment to move quickly to get this project opened and running in a manner to make The Bahamas proud,” said Mr. Izmirlian.