ider Intralot has made a proposal to Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s finance minister, for the creation of a national lottery in the country.

Operator OPAP holds a monopoly on the Greek gambling market, and the Greek government sold its 33% stake in the company to investment group Emma Delta for €652m in 2013.

Intralot chairman Socrates Kokkalis said at its annual general meeting in Athens: "According to our proposal, a national lottery should be established upon the announcement of an international tender by the state. The tender should be organised and run by the new Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC), that should be restructured and operate independently and not in favour of the current private monopoly.

“The lottery may be owned exclusively by the state, or co-owned by the state and insurance funds or it may even be built on a public-private partnership. The management of the lottery ought to be awarded to an established and globally recognised company in the sector.

"According to industry estimates internationally, the fee for the concession of such a licence may range from €100m to €250m for a period of 10-20 years, while the annual revenues for the state could amount to as much as €500m to €600m.”