Romanian Lottery fails to receive money from contract with gambling group

The Romanian Lottery has failed to receive EUR 75 million provided in the contract concluded with the Austrian gambling group Novomatic. The Romanian Lottery and Novo VLTech Solutions, part of Novomatic, signed a long-term contract in 2013 on video slot machines. Novomatic group, which is not only a gambling operator, but also a producer of video slots, had to supply the Romanian Lottery with 10,000 slots, whereas the Lottery had to provide the spaces to install them. The revenues from this association had to be split among partners. The Romanian state should have also received a minimum guaranteed income of EUR 75 million, if certain criteria were met. One of these provided that the Lottery needed to install at least 10,000 video slots. However, the Romanian Lottery has accommodated only 5,000 video slots so far. According to Novomatic, the state has failed to meet the criteria and will thus not receive EUR 75 million. Last week, the Romanian anticorruption prosecutors checked several documents from the Finance Ministry, which were related to the contract signed with Novomatic, according to judicial sources. editor@romania-insider.com