The author of the project, Congressman Adrián “Billy” Vaesken, requested the support of President Santiago Peña.
Paraguay.- After the public hearing held in the House of Representatives on the bill that eliminates the gambling monopoly, there is growing expectation for the initiative to be discussed in the Chamber in the coming months, before the end of the legislative year.
The author of the project, Congressman Adrián “Billy” Vaesken, announced that today in the ordinary session of the Chamber, he will request a motion of preference for the document to be addressed in the next session.
It is worth remembering that the initiative seeks to modify articles 8, 11, 13, 21, 22, and 23 of Law No. 1016/1997, which establishes the legal regime for the exploitation of games of chance, with the purpose of adapting the current law to the requirements of modern times.
The most significant change is the one intended to be introduced in article 8. It establishes that concessions will be granted to the three best bidders of the tenders; and not only to one company, as is currently the case, where the concessionaire is only the best offer.
«In reality, with this project what we seek is to end the monopoly because historically the Conajzar tenders the concession, for example, of the lottery and it is given to a single bidder and that is monopoly and is prohibited by the National Constitution», explained Vaesken and added that for this purpose he intends to remove the word «exclusivity» from the law in order to bury the monopoly.
In this regard, the congressman said that once the business is opened to free competition from «businessmen from other countries will come to invest in the country» and that once the sector adapts to the laws of the free market, it will generate new jobs. «Therefore, we urge President Santiago Peña to support our project«, added the promoter of the text.
Finally, he indicated that although the law proposes a comprehensive approach to the issue of gambling, the work in committees regarding the project focused on tuning the project for the first step to be the approval of the «demonopolization» and for the initiative to become law this year.
«As we had requested a return to committee, we went back to square one and focused on the end of the monopoly. We ask that from this Tuesday in eight, the half sanction already comes out. What we want is for it to become law this year because in February the tender opens. If it is not law this year, the monopoly will continue«, Vaesken concluded.
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The public hearing had the participation of representatives from the private sector of Paraguay and international organizations that expressed their support for the legislative initiative.
Luis Gama, managing partner of the gambling companies guild of Uruguay (Gaming Consultants), and Ricardo Solano, president of Remote Sports Betting and Gaming Operators of Peru (Ojada), supported the demonopolization and expressed their interest in investing in Paraguay, should the modification advance. Support also came from Colombia and Argentina, highlighting that only in Paraguay does the monopoly persist.
In that sense, as reported by the Paraguayan newspaper, Gama said: «There is a view from different countries in the region pointing to Paraguay, in order for it to have that openness that today most regional countries have» and added: «I believe that the monopoly is bad because it does not meet the demand. The State has to offer a scenario where all bettors are contemplated in that proposal, and by having a monopolistic participation we are not offering what they are looking for».
He also emphasized that the monopoly also brings informality, since «the best way to encourage illegal gambling is to create a monopolistic market».
Solano also shared the experience of Peru, where he highlighted that after the opening of the concessions, local and foreign investment increased and the monopoly affects only the consumers.
