As the government explained, the decision is due to the large number of inquiries received. The opposition accuses favoritism during the process.
Argentina.- The Córdoba Lottery extended the deadlines for the tender of casino, hotel, and slot concessions in the province, postponing the date until January 22. According to the government, the measure arises "due to the number of technical inquiries and interested parties in the bidding process".
"It has been decided to modify the calendar for better operability, setting the date for the opening of the respective envelopes for January 22, 2025, at 3 PM," explained the provincial government.
The original concessions are 22 years old and have reached 90 percent of the execution of the current contracts including extensions. Thus, after not granting the request from CET, the current concessionaire, which had requested a new extension due to the pandemic in 2020, and with only 10 percent of the terms remaining, the government opted for the call for tenders.
"It is established that from the signing of the contract, the winning companies must comply with a series of strict security and operational requirements according to the law, with the new providers needing to validate their technical conditions before the Córdoba Lottery, and demonstrate the three essential components that the machines have: the operating system, the games, and the software to be used, requiring certification of each," says the statement from the Córdoba Lottery regarding the extension and adds: "In the case of the games, each one has 250 variants that must be verified one by one and from there, proceed with the assembly of the machine."
Among the three companies that have already shown interest in the tender are CET, the current concessionaire; Boldt; and a third company of Mendoza origin. The latter has raised suspicions among the Córdoba opposition as they have denounced that it has favoritism from the Córdoba government.
"We have a series of information that needs to be certified about different trips made by personnel from the Córdoba Lottery to the province of Mendoza, on an alleged official mission," said the provincial legislator of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) Mateo Gvozdenovich.
The radical bench demanded that the Executive Branch provide them with "reliable information about the trips, as well as the purpose of these trips and the costs they represented for the provincial public treasury." "Money is not abundant in our province, less so for shady dealings with gambling," the opposition radical stated.
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In his role of oversight, the head of the UCR bench focused on a particular trip made by personnel from the Córdoba Lottery to the province of Mendoza, on January 9 of this year, by Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 1.568. He requested that the reasons for the trip and the costs involved be clarified.
