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After an 11-year break, the scratch-card lottery will be back in the Greek market. According to the Ministry of Finance, an agreement with the holding "Greek Lotteries" (ΟΠΑΠ 67%, Scientific Games 16.5% and Intralot 16.5%) has been reached and the scratch-card lottery will start on 1 May.

Moreover, after that date, the holding rather than the Department of State Lotteries will sell the tickets of the national lotteries, which will undergo minor changes in the near future.

The scratch-card lottery first appeared in Greece in 1993 but the agreement with the contractor expired in 2003 and was not renewed.

The holding company that has obtained a licence for a 12-year concession of state lotteries strongly relies on scratch cards because they are an instant win game that appeals even to women, who, in Greece, generally refrain from gambling. In the USA, 60% of revenues come from scratch cards and 40% from other lottery games.

In general, over the next 12 years, the holding expects an annual turnover of 1 billion euro from the operation of the state lotteries. At the same time, the government revenues from the taxation of the net profit of the holding by 30% and from the income taxes will exceed 1.5 billion euro in this period.

Intervention on the part of the Directorate General for Competition

While lotteries have already found their path of development, the Greek Ministry of Finance is actively exchanging letters with the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission, which, following the reports by competitors, is trying to find explanations for the monopoly position of the state lottery company OPAP on the Internet.

The latest letter from the Directorate General for Competition (DG Com) was sent on 10 February and was again signed by head of the Directorate Anna Koloutsi.
  
Let us recall that, in October 2012, the Directorate General for Competition approved the extension of OPAP's monopoly licence over 13 games of chance until the end of 2030 and the issuance of an exclusive licence for the operation of 35,000 video lottery terminals (VLT) until 2022, not considering this as a state aid because the company had paid the Greek government a total of 935 million euro (375 million euro for the 13 games of chance and 560 million for the VLTs).

At the same time, OPAP informed the Stock Exchange, without having a regulation or ministerial decision issued, that it "will retain the exclusive distribution rights to games of chance, including sports betting, both in the commercial network and on the Internet, until 2020. Moreover, from 2020 to 2030, it will retain the exclusive rights to distribute games of chance in the commercial network, including on the Internet, but excluding sports betting."

In connection with this initiative, supported by the government and for which it is preparing the relevant amendments to the law on gambling, the European Commission insists on the Greek government specifying when exactly OPAP has acquired the monopoly over the Internet until 2020 and the amount it has paid for it.

The agreement of the year 2000

The Greek side has requested to submit its final response on the matter by 8 April. Its provisional reply, however, states that OPAP paid the price under the agreement of the year 2000, which stipulates that the company shall retain until 2020 the exclusive right to offer 13 games of chance "by every means", hence on the Internet. Then OPAP paid 317 million euro.

OPAP competitors however, and subsequently the European Commission, are wondering why the company has not taken advantage of this right to date and why the state issued in late 2011 licences to 24 companies to offer Internet gambling.

It should be clear that the European Union is not against monopolies in general, as each member state is responsible for how it will use them and to whom it will provide them. In this case, the aim is to check if OPAP has paid the price for the monopoly over Internet gaming in order for the granting of exclusive rights not to be qualified as a state aid.