{"id":311326,"date":"2024-02-20T08:22:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T14:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=311326"},"modified":"2024-02-20T11:59:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T17:59:01","slug":"uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Account on Donations: Lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Czech company Allwyn takes over the reins of the UK National Lottery, Britain’s lawmakers are seeking guarantees that the new operator will meet its commitment to donate revenue to good causes.<\/p>\n

\"Allwyn,
Allwyn won the \u00a380 billion lottery contract despite its owner, Karel Kom\u00e1rek, above, having business ties with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. (Image: Czech Crunch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allwyn displaced Camelot, which operated the lottery since its 1994 inception, following a hard-fought bidding war. It won the estimated \u00a380 billion (US$100 billion) 10-year contract largely because it promised to raise \u00a338 billion (US$48 billion) for good causes over the next decade, giving \u00a33.8 billion per year. Camelot, which has since been acquired by Allwyn, gave an average of slightly more than \u00a31 billion per year over its 29-year tenure.<\/p>\n

\u2018Chance to Catch Up\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the new operator has also admitted<\/a> that it won\u2019t hit its promised short-term targets. The company blamed delays in the handover process caused by legal challenges brought by losing bidders. Allwyn says it remains committed to delivering the full amount pledged over the 10-year contract.<\/p>\n

The phasing has changed,\u201d<\/strong> Robert Chv\u00e1tal, Allwyn\u2019s chief executive told The Financial Times<\/em> last October, adding that \u201cin the great scheme of things of 10 years, we have a chance to catch up.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, lawmakers are asking the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to explain how it plans to hold Allwyn to account.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the regulator seen by The Guardian,<\/em> the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on gambling-related harm asked \u201cwhat action is being taken to ensure that returns to good causes are prioritized and increased under the new contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia Ties <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Led by the Labour Party\u2019s Carolyn Harris and former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, the APPG was established to advise the government on proposed gambling reforms. In its letter to the UKGC, the group also wanted to know more about Allwyn owner, Czech billionaire Karel Kom\u00e1rek, and his business ties to Russia.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

After Allwyn was named as the UKGC\u2019s preferred bidder for the lottery, it emerged that Komarek joint-owned an underground gas storage facility in the Czech Republic in a 50-50 partnership with the Russian state-owned energy giant, Gazprom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Last Friday, Kom\u00e1rek\u2019s holding company, KKCG, announced that Gazprom\u2019s stake in the venture had been reduced to below 3%. KKCG is expected to remove the Russian company\u2019s interest in the facility entirely by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The APPG demanded the Gambling Commission provide \u201cfurther information on the thorough checks that the Commission has undertaken, and will continue to, regarding Allwyn\u2019s ownership and that of its affiliates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Czech company Allwyn takes over the reins of the UK National Lottery, Britain’s lawmakers are seeking guarantees that the new operator will meet its commitment to donate revenue to good causes. Allwyn displaced Camelot, which operated the lottery since its 1994 inception, following a hard-fought bidding war. It won the estimated \u00a380 billion (US$100 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":311327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13699,61,13592],"tags":[89751,89943,89944,89941,89752,89942,89940,84600],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T14:22:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T17:59:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/\",\"name\":\"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T14:22:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-20T17:59:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":562,\"caption\":\"Allwyn won the \u00a380 billion lottery contract despite its owner Karel Kom\u00e1rek, above, having business ties with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. (Image: Czech Crunch)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Account on Donations: Lawmakers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say","description":"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say","og_description":"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-02-20T14:22:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-20T17:59:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":562,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/","name":"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Be Held to Account on Donations, Lawmakers Say","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-20T14:22:32+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-20T17:59:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"UK National Lottery operator Allwyn has revised its short-term donations to charities, and lawmakers want the company held to account.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Karel.jpg","width":1000,"height":562,"caption":"Allwyn won the \u00a380 billion lottery contract despite its owner Karel Kom\u00e1rek, above, having business ties with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. (Image: Czech Crunch)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-lottery-operator-allwyn-must-be-held-to-account-on-donations-lawmakers-say\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UK Lottery Operator Allwyn Must Account on Donations: Lawmakers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311326"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311392,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311326\/revisions\/311392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}