The ruling majority is preparing a significant change in the gambling sector through a proposal to concession the Bulgarian Sports Totalizator for a period of at least 15 years. The idea is set out in texts submitted between the first and second reading of the State Budget Act for 2025, the newspaper "Sega" reported.
The amendments were introduced by MPs Kostadin Angelov from GERB, Dragomir Stoynev from BSP and Yordan Tsonev from DPS.
End of the state monopoly
The proposed amendments provide for the abolition of the established state monopoly on the organization of lottery games. Instead of the state performing this activity directly, a legal possibility is created for it to be assigned to a private operator through a concession.
The motives of the proposers are based on the thesis that the totalizator is currently unable to compete competitively on the market. This proposal comes several years after the state nationalized the sector and revoked the licenses of the private operators associated with businessman Vasil Bozhkov.
Procedure and deadlines
The texts set short deadlines for starting the procedure. By March 31, 2026, the Ministry of Youth and Sports must publish a notice for a study of interest in the concession.
The draft law provides that the procedure will continue even if there is only one proposal, and the concession will be included in the state plan.
After the conclusion of the concession agreement, the Bulgarian Sports Totalizator will cease its activity in organizing gambling games. The sale of tickets, slips and coupons by the state company will be suspended, and the available quantities – destroyed.
The future of the assets
According to the proposal, the future concessionaire will acquire the right to use:
All points of the totalizer;
The betting processing systems;
The valuable samples;
The intellectual property of the company.
The totalizer will retain its assets and liabilities, but will lose the right to operate gambling games.
With regard to the financing of sports, it is planned that 10 percent of the corporate tax paid by the concessionaire will go for this purpose. At the moment, there are no detailed financial estimates of how this will relate to the current deductions that the totalizer makes for Bulgarian sports.