Konfindustria favours state-run lottery

TIRANA, July 3 – After the opposition Socialist Party, even the business community represented by Konfindustria has appealed for a state-run national lottery. Gjergj Buxhuku, the Konfindustria general administrator has called on government to suspend tender procedures to select a private company which will be awarded a 10-year licence for only 3 million euros.
“Because of its specific nature and goal, the National Lottery cannot be allowed to turn into a real business, but should be used as a tool for people in need affected by the economic crisis. The direct administration of the lottery by the state is the only way to achieve the goal of not turning it into a real business,” said Buxhuku.
The Association also considers unacceptable the fact that gambling revenues which do not produce economic development but ensure speculative profits will be out of state coffers.
“In addition, it becomes more unacceptable if the revenue flows out of the country as will happen if the operator managing the national lottery will be a foreign company.”
The Association says Albanians’ money cannot be allowed to flow out of the country unreasonably “under conditions of a prolonged economic crisis and when businesses and the economy will strongly need liquidity in the mid-term.
With one year to go before the next general elections, opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama has threatened to cancel the lottery and make it a state-run lottery.
Albania’s Finance Ministry has opened bids to award a licence on Albania’s first national lottery amid accusations from Greek and Turkish companies claiming that the tender conditions had already predetermined the winner.
As expected, only two companies participated in the tender held June 20 after Greece’s Intralot and Turkey’s Inteltek withdrew from the race denouncing the qualification criteria.
The first offer came from the Austrian National Lottery, while the second came from a consortium of three companies, the Italian Lottomatica, the Cypriot GTech and the Czech Synot.