The appointment of Nelson Leitão Paes as acting secretary of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP), of the Ministry of Economy was published in the Official Gazette (DOU) last Thursday (16/4). Paes is a career servant: tax auditor for the Federal Revenue since 1998 and a mechanical engineer graduated from the University of São Paulo (USP) with a doctorate in Economics from the University of Brasília (Unb).
Before assuming the position of secretary, Nelson Paes was already part of the SECAP staff, in the role of undersecretary for the Evaluation of Union Grants. He is also a professor in the Graduate Programs in Economics at the Federal Universities of Pernambuco (UFPE) and Mato Grosso (UFMT).
On his challenges ahead of the Secretariat - which is part of the structure of the Special Secretariat of Finance of the Ministry of Economy - Paes recalled that SECAP operates in very different areas, but emphasized the technical qualification that the team has to continue to advance.
Regarding the topic of the Lottery area, he highlighted the importance of the continuity of the Instant Lottery (Lotex) concession processes and regulation of fixed-odd sports betting in the country.
GMB - Can the Ministry keep working and move forward in the midst of this pandemic?
Nelson Leitão Paes - SECAP, more specifically in the area of lottery regulation and commercial promotions, has almost all of its processes automated and based on technological platforms, which allows that there is no interruption in priority activities, even in the face of the emergency scenario, and certainly transitory, that we experience.
The actions of our secretariat continue to be developed without prejudice to institutional objectives, using remote management techniques, video calls, access to centralized databases and virtual interactions between officials.
Before the pandemic, the international market was very aware of the regulation of sports betting and there is a lot of uncertainty about that. What message can you give to operators who want to invest in Brazil and work legally?
The regulation of Fixed-Odd Bets by the Ministry of Economy is an unstoppable movement, given the potential in the country, the interest of several international investors and, mainly, because it is a legal demand imposed by Law 13.756, of December 12, 2018.
Thus, what we can assure is that we will spare no effort for this regulation to occur, within the best international practices, with a high degree of adherence to the expectations of bettors and with due legal, technical and institutional security for future operators, in a technical-operational modeling that eliminates existing uncertainties and that is consistent with a safe and integrity operation that generates effective results for Brazilian society. It is in this sense that we are working here at SECAP.
The most recent version of the decree contained points that provoked some criticisms that can be seen in the most recent public consultation that SECAP launched on the market, like a bidding system or the limit of 30 companies. In your opinion, will that number increase? Are there more changes in mind for this law?
In the quest to have a model of the operation of Fixed-Odd Bets in the country, as highlighted above, the previous public consultations are a first indication, a test balloon so that we could assess the perceptions, concerns and premises desired by the main stakeholders: bettors and international operators.
In this sense, technical aspects presented in the draft decrees should be seen only as a first proposition that will serve as guidelines in the work we are doing, whose goal is to have a model that results in the “state of the art” for the future operation.
With this, the limit number of companies operating in Brazil, aspects that need to be changed in the law and technical requirements for future operators are, at this moment, subject to change, review or adjustment, when we have the regulation definitively modeled.
Did this pandemic also slow the progress of the Estrelha consortium in implementing Lotex? Do you know if the release dates have already been changed?
From the point of view of regulating the operation of the Exclusive Instant Lottery (LOTEX), there is no delay so far. On the contrary, technical teams are frequently interacting with the managers of the Estrela Instantânea consortium, interactions that have already resulted in a large number of definitions of the operational routines of this new lottery product.
Topics such as the routine approval of LOTEX series, operation of electronic environments and Responsible Gambling and Money Laundering Prevention practices, for example, have already been widely discussed and outlined for the future operation.
In view of this scenario, the schedule for the signing of the contract with the winning consortium of the auction is maintained until the end of June this year and, possibly, the beginning of the marketing of the first instant lotteries in the second half of 2020.
Source: Exclusive Games Magazine Brasil
