Giuliano Frosini, Senior Vice President Institutional Relations, Public Affairs and Media Communication at IGT e Alberto Giorgetti, Director of institutional relations of IGT, spoke today in the Senate Finance Committee to be heard on the tender of Lotto, included in the opinion of the parliamentary commissions on the online reorganization scheme. Frosini introduced the hearing by explaining that the 18 months, in advance of the deadline, and to which reference was made, are linked to the timescales necessary for the procedures. In the past I had at least 18 months, see also for technical issues.
“Normally the tender for the concession of Lotto it has always been included in a budget law of the year preceding the expiry of the concession itself. The reason – said Frosini – is linked to the considerations on the times the Agency can have for all the necessary procedures. It depends on how much time it takes, but above all on the so-called 'parasitic' time, i.e. the time taken by the Council of State which must, by law, give its opinion on the tender. The last time it took 8 months, it then took time to correct the notice and then republish it."
The other issue is related to the technological infrastructure. “The dealer puts together equipment that is not the property of the dealer but of the State. At the end of the concession this sort of infrastructural 'engine' is transferred to the new concessionaire. Between the provisional award (with the payment of the first part of the one-off payment) and the subsequent, definitive phase, a period of time passes in which the new concessionaire puts together its infrastructure and shuts down the other one. Putting all these times together, the months more or less taken for the process are around 18", added Frosini.
“As for the assessments on theupfront, or the advance payment, this is to be considered linked to the premium, or the amount of revenue that is transferred to the concessionaire based on the return on the investment and the capital tied up at the beginning of the concession. This only applies to the lottery. The sums paid initially are then paid back into the premium if the concessionaire is able to keep the collection high. And this through technological innovation and product innovation. What is the right level? It depends on the rate. Last time, 700 million was the starting price with a 6% premium and an average collection of between six and seven billion. Today the collection is higher, and therefore if we did a trivial mathematical proportion we would arrive at 1 billion. If this figure is increased, the legislator must rethink the value of the premium. Upfront and upfront are related by a mathematical model. Treasury technicians have all the tools to correlate them, however, considering these two variables they should maximize the general interest. So try to get as much as possible from the dealer at the beginning obviously based on a moderate premium. If you give a low premium you risk asking for too little and therefore it takes the State too long to recover, if you give it too much you risk that that upfront is too high. So the balance is, depending on what the legislator decides, it will create numbers in proportion to the two values", concluded Frosini.
