A snarl of vested interests
For as long as it has existed, the OPAP state gambling agency has been a hub of entangled interests. No government, no decree or law has been able to cut the ties of the organization to certain lobby groups and powerful individuals. Unfortunately, this tradition continues to hold strong even under the present-day government, which not only failed to impose regulations on the company requiring it to announce details of its technical support tender, but even agreed to allow OPAP to keep the name of the company to which the tender was granted confidential. Such practices – of commissions going to the same parties over and over again and more so being conducted in a manner that is not transparent – should not be tolerated by a government whose prime minister pledged transparency in all state dealings when he came to power. More specifically, the case of OPAP creates a lot of questions about the judgment of Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos, under whose jurisdiction the company falls.
