The procedure for granting the contract to manage Bulgaria's state lottery was cancelled by Finance Minister Milen Velchev on Tuesday.
Four bids were submitted at the beginning of September, three of them officially joined the lottery deal, the fourth was submitted online.
An appointed by the minister commission found two of the companies - US and Swedish - failed to meet the necessary requirements. US company Scientific Games International has not provided all the required documents. Swedish SNet was also declassified as it has submitted its bid online.
All bidders have been informed about the termination of the tender. None of them has lodged an appeal against the decision within the legally fixed deadline.
The bidding companies were required to be legal lottery operators in their countries with at least five years of experience, annual turnover of no less than USD 10 M over the last five years and registered capital of USD 15 M, revenues from casinos' management excluded.
The company should not be registered in an offshore zone as well.
Bulgaria's state lottery raked in BGN 2, 536 M in 2001 and BGN 4, 2 M last year. Revenues for the first half-year of 2003 towered to BGN 2, 5 M. Some 11% of the proceeds are distributed among the health care, education, culture and social sector.