Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez has signed Decree 4452, which approves the resolution from the local gambling regulator Conajzar that awards the concession of the national lottery to Technologies Development of Paraguay SA (TDP SA).
The decree, signed on December 4, puts an end to a long battle that involved different social organizations and companies against decision 32/2020 of the national regulator.
In September, the joint venture consortium Consorcio B-Gaming SA y Gambling SA presented a ‘reconsideration appeal’ for Conajzar to review the decision, claiming that ‘there were serious errors’ in the bid evaluation process.
TDP SA, owned by former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy, also received different complaints from veterans, since they argued that the company failed to comply with the payments established in the law between 2015 and 2020.
However, the Paraguayan president decided to ratify Conajzar’s decision, which had ensured that all processes had been carried out with total transparency. TDP SA will be in charge of the quiniela for the next five years, until 2025.
TDP SA also published a statement in which it highlighted that due to the delay in the implementation of the concession, the state lost around $100,000 per day, while last week it lost $500,000.
Moreover, different lottery vendors went on strike before the President signed the decree to urge the National Congress to award the concession so they could return to their jobs and to review Conajzar’s decision.
According to local media Independiente, one of the trade union leaders, Alicia Gutierrez, said: “The message to the President is for him to receive quinieleros in his office, because we’re tired of this company.”
