Battle lines are being drawn in the contest to win the most lucrative Government contract on offer to the private sector – the ten-year deal to run the National Lottery.
Bidders, who started their presentations to the Gambling Commission last month, are eyeing the £78 million annual profits earned by Camelot, which has operated the Lottery since its launch in 1994.
Leading the charge to topple Camelot is the European gambling giant Sazka, owned by a Czech oligarch whose colourful ‘Bond villain’ back story is causing disquiet in some Government quarters.
Karel Komarek, who made his £3 billion fortune following the fall of Communism after Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution in 1989, has established a joint venture through his oil business MND with a German subsidiary of Gazprom, the energy company owned by Vladimir Putin’s Russian state.
Leading the charge to topple Camelot is the European gambling giant Sazka, owned by a Czech oligarch whose colourful ‘Bond villain’ back story is causing disquiet in some Government quarters. Karol Komarek with his wife Stepanka, Vienna 2019,
Komarek, 52, who started to build his business empire on the back of a loan from his father, a member of the Czech-Soviet regime, has bolstered his bid with a series of high-profile appointments, including Sir Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the 2012 Olympics, former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King and Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman.
It’s understood that the company disputes claims being made in Westminster that, as a sweetener, it has promised Tory MPs that a proportion of its revenues would be diverted to ‘levelling-up’ projects in their constituencies.
According to reports, Hakluyt had created a dossier on Karel and his father in 2003. It contained strongly denied claims. This scandal was described in court as a James Bond plot. Komarek brought against them a libel suit, which was dropped by Komarek who said that he was disappointed with the results. Sources close to Komarek claim that the claims were part of a discrediting campaign.
Richard Desmond (an ex-tycoon of adult magazines) is also in contention for the contract. He sold his share in the Daily Mirror publisher to fund his pursuit of this licence. Mr Desmond, who once owned the Daily Express and Channel 5, revealed in accounts for his holding company Northern & Shell that he will spend up to £20 million on his bid. ‘I will make it bigger, better and British,’ the press baron has said. He is still considered outside the race.
Bidders, who started their presentations to the Gambling Commission last month, are eyeing the £78 million annual profits earned by Camelot, which has operated the Lottery since its launch in 1994
According to some, his bid was damaged because he allegedly used his power as a Conservative Party donor in order to lobby Housing Secretary for East London property development last year.
As Camelot fights for renewal of its contract with the government, MPs are increasingly critical. Politicians have expressed concern over how much it donates to charities. Since 2011, Camelot has given back nearly 27p for every pound sold to charities. However, this figure is now close to 21p.
Alexander Stafford, Tory MP for Rother Valley, organised a letter from Conservative MPs ‘to highlight Camelot’s failings’, while Sir Iain Duncan Smith, vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling-related harm, has called for a ‘full review on what Camelot’s purpose is’.
The MPs from all parties called for action by Ministers against the company.
Camelot rebuts the criticism by arguing that the UK lottery has become one of the world’s most successful, raising £43 billion for good causes since 1994.