Billionaire with Russian links wins deal to operate Britain's National Lottery

A billionaire with business links to Russian energy giant Gazprom is set to be handed control of Britain’s National Lottery.

The Gambling Commission has chosen Allwyn, owned by Czech tycoon Karel Komarek, as its “preferred bidder” to operate the lottery licence from 2024.

The decision is a blow to Camelot, which has run the National Lottery since its launch in 1994, and chief executive Nigel Railton said it was considering its “next steps”.

Because of the secretive nature of the bidding process, Allwyn has yet to reveal much about changes players and sellers can expect. But reports say it pledged £38billion to good causes over 10 years, halve ticket prices to £1 and have two draws per night.

Elsewhere in Europe, Allwyn focuses on online sales. It promotes “giftcards” instead of scratchcards.

It is also known to use algorithms to predict and prevent problem gambling, which may have impressed the Gambling Commission.

Mr Komarek made much of his fortune in oil and gas, but has been keen to distance himself from Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

In an open letter in early March, he condemned Russia’s “brutal” invasion. He said he decided “many years ago” to sell his assets in Russia.

However, his company still shares ownership with Gazprom of a gas storage facility in the Czech Republic.

Mr Komarek explained: “This JV [joint venture] has been maintained, at the request of the Czech Government, to ensure an important Czech energy asset was not subject to full Russian control. There are very few options to fully divest from Russian gas in Eastern Europe.”

Gazprom, which is majority owned by the Russian state, has been sanctioned due to the invasion of Ukraine. The Gambling Commission insisted it was “satisfied that no application is impacted by sanctions related to the conflict”.

Entrepreneur Mr Komarek, 52, started out selling pipes and valves, then moved into oil and gas.

The father of four is worth an estimated £5.9billion, is married to Stepanka and lives in Switzerland.

• National Lottery set up in 1994 by Prime Minister John Major’s government.
• He bought a ticket, aides worried he would win the first draw, papers released in 2019 showed.
• Camelot wins first licence, and contracts in 2001 and 2007 for second and third.
• The award of the second only came after a High Court battle, when Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson had initially been picked.
• Noel Edmonds, watched by 22 million on TV, hosted the first draw, on Saturday November 19, 1994.
• Deborah Walsh, 18, won a contest to press the button to start the draw machine.
• The first winning numbers were 3, 5, 14, 22, 30, 44 and the bonus ball was 10.
• Scratchcards were launched in March 1995.
• EuroMillions draw launched in February 2004.
• Main draw ticket doubled to £2 in October 2013.
• Lottery has created more than 6,300 millionaires.
• Over £45billion raised for 660,000 good causes.
• Anonymous UK ticket holder wins £170million EuroMillions jackpot in 2019, beating £161m won by Scottish couple Colin and Chris Weir in 2011.
• Lotto rapist Iorworth Hoare won £7.2m in 2004 on weekend leave from jail.
• Builder Edward Putman jailed for nine years in 2019 for claiming £2.5m with fake National Lottery ticket.
• Lotto lout Michael Carroll blew £9.7m won in 2002.
• Camelot warned of a “low level” cyber attack in 2018 affecting 150 million online customer accounts.