UK Edition
Czech billionaire spends almost £9m on National Lottery bid
Energy tycoon Karel Komarek spent almost £2m more than rival Richard Desmond, who also wants to oust Camelot from running the draw
A Czech billionaire has spent almost £9m preparing his bid to run the National Lottery, outgunning his rivals before the auction of Europe's most prized gambling contract.
Karel Komarek's gambling group Sazka is vying to seize control of the National Lottery by ousting incumbent operator Camelot for the first time since the draw’s launch in 1994.
He has hired a coterie of British business figures to back his bid, including Lord Coe; Sir Keith Mills, the air miles tycoon and friend of Boris Johnson; the Lastminute.com founder, Brent Hoberman; and the former Sainsbury's chief, Justin King.
Sazka Group UK Limited, a company set up to assist Mr Komarek’s bid, racked up £8.9m in costs during the year to December 2020, according to recently filed accounts. Its 12 staff took home an average of roughly £210,000 each.
Sazka announced in October 2020 that it had entered the race to run the National Lottery.
Mr Komarek amassed his wealth by investing in post-Soviet energy markets.
Richard Desmond, the former owner of the Daily Express and Channel 5, who also wants to run the lottery, spent £7.2m on his bid in 2020 - almost £2m less than Mr Komarek.
Camelot, which faces its first competitive bid since the operator was transferred to foreign ownership in 2010, has yet to disclose its costs for last year. Its latest filed accounts are for the year to March 2020.
The final company in the running is Italian gambling group Sisal. In a recent filing, it said operating costs had risen by €15m due to a number of factors including the expense of bidding for the National Lottery.
The spending comes with the quartet’s final bids set to be submitted to the Gambling Commission in the coming weeks.
Bidders will then deliver an in-person presentation to officials in mid-October, with the winning bidder announced next spring.
The Telegraph understands that ministers have been under orders to let the Gambling Commission, whose position is subject to review under sweeping reforms to betting laws being considered by parliament, spearhead the selection.
Sources said that Whitehall is concerned that ministerial meddling could leave the decision to pick the next operator open to a judicial review.
Sir Richard Branson was awarded the second National Lottery licence in 2000 before a judicial review overturned the decision and handed it back to Camelot.
A Sazka spokesman said: "We believe it is critical to outline [UK brand] Allwyn’s capabilities correctly and transparently to the Gambling Commission to demonstrate the people and partners who would be in place to operate the National Lottery for the next 10 years should we be successful in the tender process for the fourth National Lottery licence."