Paraguay’s gambling regulator Conajzar has revealed that the process to award the concession to operate the national lottery could end in October. A resolution from September 4 had set that TDP SA will be in charge of the lottery for the next five years, but the regulator received a “reconsideration appeal” from Consorcio B-Gaming SA and Gambling SA, which needs to be reviewed before the process ends.
Conajzar’s President José Ortiz said that they’re only a step away from the final approval. He also highlighted that the process to award the concession, which started in November 2019, was transparent.
However, Ortiz said that the license “is subject to confirmation due to a reconsideration appeal.” If the ruling is in favor of TDP SA, the Executive Government would need to ratify the decision before they sign the contract.
B-Gaming SA and Gambling SA Representative Néstor Povigna said: “The reconsideration appeal was filed against the Conajzar resolution that awarded TDP the lottery rights. The appeal is considered in the bidding process rules as a defense from the participants against irregularities in the bid evaluation process. This consortium considers that there were serious errors in the process that should be analyzed again by Conajzar.”
In addition, a TDP SA spokesperson said that “the company offered to pay higher fees” (19,6% against Consorcio’s 15,51%). Jacinto Estigarribia, from TDP SA, assured that the company’s proposal was the “most convenient offer for the Paraguayan State.”
As part of a campaign to improve Conajzar’s transparency, the Chamber of Senators approved last week a request from civil organizations asking the regulator to share reports detailing where the regulator allocated the money from unclaimed prizes from 2015 to date.
Senator Abel González’s request aims to obtain statistics on unclaimed prizes, as well as where the regulator directed them and whether they were sent to charities. Conajzar must comply with the Senate’s request and exercise control over the destination of the unclaimed prizes. It must also sanction the operators if they don’t comply with the law.