Rumor has it that the state lottery is about to be privatized but according to a reliable source, familiar with the state lottery affairs, no official statement, concerning its privatization matters has been issued so far.
The news about the lack of stance on the privatization issue was discussed in local media. Despite the impressive revenues the state lottery generates, the government has not made its final decision yet and actually, it seems like the government members are likely to leave the lottery to the “mercy of time”.
However, the privatization is believed to have a severe effect on the selling price of the lottery.
A representative of the lottery department said that they are not going to announce privatization before the government does so.
According to a report issued back in 2013, the Ministry of Finance approved of the privatization actions despite the fact that the lottery is a source of a considerable income.
During 2013, the lottery generated revenues, totaling more than €22 million while the expenses for running it amounted to €1.05 million. In other words, if the government approves of the privatization, Cyprus will lose a substantial source of revenues.
According to the above-mentioned report it was announced that those companies that will be a subject to privatization were announced and surprising or not, the state lottery was not among the names included.
However, the lottery privatization issue was mentioned in the proposal issued by the finance minister. Plus, the privatization was mentioned in the plan, approved by the government. The information can be found displayed on the website of the Finance Ministry in section “Privatisations”.
Despite the uncertainty, it seems like time is approaching since the government’s action plan says that the lottery has to be sold no later than the end of September 2015.
One of the main reasons for authorities’ desire to privatize the lottery stems from official’s willingness to reduce the debt they owe to the EU and IMF. Their intention is to generate an amount, equal to €1.4 billion in three years time.
The first attempts of the government towards the lottery privatization were not welcomed by those employed in the industry.
According to people familiar with the matter, taking actions towards privatization is not beneficial at all and some more time should be given for the economy stabilize. Bearing in mind the pessimistic economic situation at the moment, it seems like postponing the privatization is the most sensible decision for now.
