Turkey's Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has authorized the consultancy firm E&Y for the privatization of the National Lottery (Milli Piyango), Bloomberg HT reported upon confirmation from a high-level source close to the subject.

Zafer Sönmez, General Manager of SWF, which holds the licensing rights for the Milli Piyango lottery operator, said in May they were aiming to take final bids in a tender for the operating rights to the National Lottery, determine by end-June or early July who they will give it to and that they aimed to complete the deal by year-end.

Sönmez said they were considering the transfer of operating rights for a 10-year period, adding that they have been talking with all major companies since February. He also stressed that there was potential to raise the lottery's annual revenues from TL 3.5 billion, or 0.1 percent of the gross national product (GNP), to 1-2 percent of the GNP. Sönmez had also remarked that when operating rights are transferred to a strategic player, all the income will flow to them and they will pay a commission to the operating rights holder, continuing that the player will give them a commitment of income.

In the Milli Piyango 2016 privatization tender, Net Şans-Hitay Joint Venture Group had previously given the highest bid for the lottery's operating rights at $2.75 billion but failed to deposit the tender price on time, thus leading to the cancellation of the initial sale.