National Lottery scandal

“Based on the recommendation of this adviser, the Ministry of Finances has proposed the criteria that are not only related with the technical documentation that an operator should fulfill, but also with the criteria on which the evaluation for such operators should be based”, declared the Minister of Finances, Alfred Rrushaj.

This confirmation of the Ministry of Finances compromises even more the National Lottery tender, adding strong suspicions for conflict of interest. According to the web page of the European Association of National Lotteries, the director of this association is Friedrich Sticler. Mr. Sticler’s association, through their legal consultant, Valdemik Partners, has suggested to the Albanian government to remove the price criteria from requirement list, narrowing this way the results to only two companies, one of which has a very strong connection with Mr. Sticler.

On the official web page of Friedrich Sticler, besides being President of the European Association of National Lotteries, he is also Vice General Director of the Austrian National Lottery and a member of its board since 1986. Austria’s National Lottery is well known to the Albanian public, because it is one of the only two companies that are competing for the license of the National Lotto, and the other competitors have even declared that it will be the winner.

Some international companies reported the tender criteria set by the government with the recommendation of the Association led by Mr. Sticler, which limits the tender to only a company.

Top Channel