The Brazilian Development Bank has pushed back a tender process that will privatize the national instant lottery, Lotex—the fifth such delay. The bank moved the date from April 26 to May 9 to give potential licensees more time to jump in and develop their proposals. On May 11, the commission will announce a list of eligible bidders.
In 2017, Brazilian President Michel Temer issued a decree transferring the responsibility to privatize Lotex to the BNDES and the Ministry of Finance. According to initial estimates, the sale could generate around R 2.2 billion (US$561 million) for the government.
According to Brazilian journal O Globo, citing data from the Investment Partnership Program, the minimum bid is expected to come in at about R$640 million (US$117 million), down from the R$1 billion (US$253 million). In 2017, Caixa registered revenues of almost R$14 billion, of which 48 percent went to social programs. Unions that oppose the sell-off argue that if the sale is carried out, these resources will be reduced drastically.
Dionísio Reis, head of the Caixa Employers’ Executive Committee, said the focus will be on profits, not public services. “We can not accept that resources that today finance culture, education, sport and security are earmarked for the private profit of companies and shareholders. It does not make sense to privatize Lotex. For this reason, the resistance of workers and society is essential to stop this threat. We are going to show the government that nobody wants this privatization.”
