UKGC Withholds Files on Lottery Winner's Russian Links
Regulator cites cost exemption to avoid releasing due diligence documents concerning the new National Lottery operator.
The UK Gambling Commission has declined a Freedom of Information request for documents related to its due diligence on the new National Lottery operator. The request sought information on the regulator's assessment of the operator's past business links in Russia. The UKGC cited excessive cost as the reason for withholding the files.
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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has withheld documents related to its due diligence on the new National Lottery operator, including assessments of the winning bidder’s past business links in Russia, a Freedom of Information (FOI) response reveals.
The regulator declined to release the information, stating that the cost of fulfilling the request would exceed the legal limit for public authorities.
Context: Scrutiny of the Lottery Licence
The request, dated 22 November 2023, sought to shed light on the process behind awarding the fourth National Lottery licence to Allwyn. This was one of the UK's largest public contracts and marked the first change in operator since the lottery's inception in 1994.
The FOI request specifically asked for documents concerning the UKGC's assessment of the winning bidder's connections to an oil terminal in Samara, Russia, and a gas-storage joint venture with Gazprom in the Czech Republic. This followed a statement provided by the UKGC to the Daily Telegraph in which the regulator said it did not regard these links as "relevant".
For consumers, the integrity of the National Lottery operator and the rigour of the regulator's vetting process are paramount to maintaining public trust in a national institution that generates billions for good causes.
Details of the Refusal
The UKGC refused to provide the requested information under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This section allows public bodies to decline requests where the cost of locating, retrieving, and extracting the information is estimated to exceed £450, or 18 hours of staff time.
The Commission's response noted that a search for the terms “Gazprom” and “Samara” across its email and file systems returned a "large number of records". It stated that reviewing these records individually to identify relevant documents would take longer than the 18 hours permitted.
In addition to the files on Russian business links, the request also sought key documents from the competition process itself, including:
- The Invitation to Apply (ITA)
- The full Frequently Asked Clarifications log
- Various agreements issued to bidders
All of these documents were also withheld under the same cost exemption.
Significance: Transparency Questions Remain
The UKGC's refusal to release the documents means that the evidence behind its public statement—that it was satisfied "no sanctioned entities are involved in funding the incoming licensee" and that certain business links were not "relevant"—remains shielded from public scrutiny.
While the regulator is legally entitled to use the cost exemption, the decision leaves key questions about its due diligence process unanswered. The fact that searches for terms related to Russian energy firms yielded a "large number of records" suggests the topic was discussed within the Commission, but the substance of those discussions remains unknown.
This lack of transparency makes it difficult for the public and industry observers to fully understand how the UKGC evaluated potential risks during one of the most significant regulatory decisions in its history.