Uncovering the Secrets of the National Lottery Board of Directors’ Pay: Shocking Revelations and Government Response

2024-02-23 11:11:00

“I fell off my chair when I learned” how much the members of the board of directors of the National Lottery were paid, Barbara Trachte declared Thursday evening in the Small Theater of Vrebos (LN24). The Secretary of State said she was surprised to discover the comfortable advantages enjoyed by the administrators of the state operator when reading the DH article.

Remember that in 2022, the 21 people at the head of the public organization received a total of more than 2 million euros in remuneration. The 13 members of the Board receive attendance fees ranging from 500 to 1,000 euros, to which must be added a fixed monthly remuneration ranging from 1,250 to 2,500 euros. Each director is entitled to this fixed salary, whether or not he participates in the meetings. These administrators are placed by the political parties present in the federal majority.

The ecologist is not the only one to have been struck by the size of these amounts. “Hello party presidents, hello National Lottery, what justifies such amounts?” asked author and columnist Thomas Gunzig, without obtaining an answer.

Questioned by us, the Lottery spokesperson gave us an evasive response. “The remuneration of directors is determined by the general meeting (therefore by the shareholder)”. The Belgian State is a 78.72% shareholder in Loterie and the remaining 21.28% of the shares are held by the Société Fédérale de Participations et d’Investissement (SFPIM), which is the State’s investment holding company. In other words, the State is the sole shareholder of the company.

Another answer can be found in the 2022 National Lottery report. “The 2002 Law provides that the general meeting determines the remuneration received by the members of the board of directors as a result of their mandate as directors”. This amount has not been indexed since 2002.

This therefore tells us who determines the amounts of the emoluments. But that doesn’t tell us why they are so high.

This is what Jean-Marie Dedecker wanted to know. The Flemish nationalist deputy questioned Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) on Thursday in the plenary session of the Chamber. And here is the response the minister gave.

”The National Lottery is a public law SA. It is therefore logical that the remuneration of members of the board of directors, the executive committee and government commissioners falls within the framework of corporate governance. Any organization providing public services has this responsibility. The question of whether these remunerations within public companies also fit within the framework of corporate governance therefore requires a general and systematic assessment which must be carried out within the whole of government.”

”At the National Lottery, the general assembly autonomously sets the remuneration of the executive committees.”

”The remuneration of government commissioners is regulated by royal decree and follows that of the members of the board of directors. The rules for remuneration of managing directors of public companies are set. These rules provide that the maximum annual remuneration is €290,000 indexed per year. The National Lottery respects these remuneration rules.”

Between the lines, we can read that Minister Van Peteghem considers these remunerations to be subject to review. And if it answers the “how”, it does not answer the “why”…

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