Sazka racks up £9m in quest for lottery

Sazka’s boss Karel Komárek has spent £9m in his quest to secure the right to operate the UK’s National Lottery.

According to a report in today’s national press, Komárek has spent the money on hiring a line-up of top UK business brains. The Daily Telegraph reports that they include Lord Coe and Sir Keith Mills, the air miles tycoon and friend of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He has also recruited Brent Hoberman the founder of Last-minute.com and Justin King, the former head of major supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.

The prize is a considerable one: Europe’s biggest gambling contract, currently operated by Camelot, which is also bidding for a renewal of its remit.

The Czech-based Sazka Group has a UK subsidiary set up by Komárek and it has spent £8.9m in costs in the year to December 2020, says its accounts. The 12 staff took home an average of £210,000 each.

Also competing for the rights to run the lottery is Sisal, the Italian gambling company.