A vote on a report by the Brazilian Union Court of Audit (TCU) needed to allow the government to privatize Lotex, better known as “Raspadinha” (scratch card), was scheduled for Wednesday (14). TCU’s technicians did not see any flaws in the edict prepared by the government. If the ministers of the Court approve the report, the government promises to hold the auction in 60 days.
However, TCU technicians, who worked on the analysis of the edict, warn that Caixa should stay out of the dispute. According to them, the presence of the state-owned bank "could break the equality of conditions among bidders because of information they have about the privatization process." Caixa, they remember, participated in the initial phase of privatization.
In one of the parts of the TCU report, to which local media EXPRESSO had access, officials affirm that Caixa's participation in Lotex's bidding would be problematic even in a consortium with other companies. That is because, if it won, the bank would end up competing with "its own lottery products marketed in its network of permission holders."
In the report, the technicians also point out the bank's sensitive financial situation and political issues it faces as reasons to move away from the bidding.
Source: GMB / O Globo / EXPRESSO
