Bulgaria is exploring the option of giving away its Sport Toto (ST) national lottery organiser under a 15-year lease

A draft bill was submitted by two of the three coalition parties, GERB and BSP, with external support from fellow political party DPS-New Beginning. The proposal was put forward ahead of the Budget 2026 announcement – which unrelated to that will introduce an increase in gambling taxes.

The texts envision that the national monopoly on lottery games will be up for grabs for a minimum of 15 years from a private company, either local or international, registered in Bulgaria for tax purposes.

Concession contracts will be given out by the Director General of the Bulgarian gambling regulator, the National Revenue Agency (NRA). Once the contract is active, the licence holder will take over full control of ST’s lottery games remit on Bulgarian territory, and will gain access to all ST retail stores, internal systems and intellectual property.

A total of 10% from the lottery’s annual corporate tax will fund the budget of the Ministry for Youth and Sport for the development of social initiatives, while 30% of the lottery revenue will be allocated for funding of clubs and organisations within the sports sector.

In fact, one of the reasonings behind the proposition was that the ST lacks the necessary financial resources and market expertise to compete with a rapidly growing online gambling sector, hence failing to fulfil its obligations of attracting players towards the less harmful lottery games and subsequently being unable to support Bulgaria’s sports sector – according to the draft’s statements.

There were private lottery providers operating in Bulgaria prior to 2020, but under GERB’s then-mandate, a law was introduced that solidified ST’s monopoly status. However, the party now argues that ST has failed to defend its monopoly by generating less revenue than that of its former private counterparts.

The signees pointed out that the concession of a monopoly company has previously been confirmed to be within EU law, with several relevant examples from European jurisdictions being highlighted.

These included the consortium that currently holds the concession over ItalyLotto, Germany’s federal framework which allows for the lease of lottery operations, Greece and the Hellenic Lotteries’ current 12-year concession, as well as Malta giving away the national lottery to National Lottery PLC in 2021.

ST’s total revenues were BGN 427m (£191.2m) for 2024, a 5.9% YoY increase. Whilst this could prove lucrative for international players, it should be noted that the country will officially adopt the Euro at the start of next year.

If the draft gets adopted, the Ministry of Youth and Sport will have until 31 March 2026 to evaluate the potential interest and benefits of such an endeavour.