Belgium lottery chief criticised for privatisation remarks
Jannie Haek, Chief Executive of ‘Loterie Nationale’ Belgium’s national lottery operator has been criticised for commenting on the potential privatisation of a state-owned asset.
Belgium media had questioned Haek, on whether the Loterie would follow suit and replicate French gambling operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) privatisation, which grabbed international headlines becoming one of 2019 most successful European IPOs.
Offering his personal opinion, Haek stated that a ‘part-privatisation’ of Belgium’s national lottery, mirroring FDJ movements could be a ‘beautiful opportunity for Belgian investors’.
Haek’s comment would be criticised by outgoing Belgium Deputy PM Alexander De Croo of the liberal Open VLD party, who reminded Loterie’s CEO that he was in charge of a government asset and not a private enterprise.
“Loterie’s CEO can wish it, but we, the Government, are the owners,” De Croo stated to the Council of Ministers as Belgium’s government prepares to reform, transitioning into an interim government led by Sophie Wilmes as ‘acting premier’.
Belgium’s general elections held in May 2019 left the country in political limbo, with results unable to produce a government as parties refused to form coalitions governing Belgium’s three separate autonomous regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
De Croo maintains that the privatisation of Loterie should remain low on the list of Belgian political priorities and treated as a ‘non-urgent matter’.
Further criticism was drawn by Kurt Sissau, the leader of the Flemish ACOD public services union, stated his concerns at Haek’s comment, as Loterie employees had been promised that privatisation ‘was not on the agenda’, following FDJ’s public offering.
Source: SBC News
