Demirören Holding takes over Azerbaijan’s lottery company

BAKU

Turkey’s Demirören Holding has taken over Azerbaijan’s national lottery company, Azerlotereya, at least for a period of 10 years in a signing ceremony held in Baku on Feb. 27.

“We are proud that the Republic of Azerbaijan, which offers a highly trustworthy environment for international investors, has picked us among many global companies to put their confidence in,” said Yıldırım Demirören, the head of Demirören Group.

“Demirören Holding is one of Turkey’s leading conglomerates in media, tourism, education and game of chance sectors. We have given employment to tens of thousands of people. We have the largest media group in Turkey, and it is among one of the prominent ones in Europe. Our media group, which involves brands such as Hürriyet, Kanal D and CNN Türk, is Turkey’s biggest window opening to the world. We also have one of the prominent companies in game of chance sector,” he added.

Expressing his pleasure to ink the holding’s first investment in Azerbaijan, Demirören said: “We will offer job opportunities to thousands of people. Moreover, we feel proud to be set to share our experiences in this field to the Republic of Azerbaijan’s game of chance sector.”

Demirören also offered his condolences for hundreds of Azerbaijani citizens killed by Armenian forces in the Khojaly massacre on Feb. 26, 1992.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree in January to hand over Azerlotereya’s management to Turkish company Demirören Şans Oyunları’s subsidiary YMT Şans.

Last year, a joint venture of Demirören Holding and Italian company Sisal took over the license of Turkey’s state-owned lottery company, Milli Piyango, until 2030.

Erkan Özoral, Turkey’s ambassador to Baku, hailed increasing economic cooperation between the two countries in a speech during a signing ceremony.

“Our bilateral trade continued to rise despite the pandemic. Azerbaijan was Turkey’s top natural gas supplier in 2020,” Özoral said, adding that Ankara’s support to Baku would continue with reconstruction activities in the Upper Karabakh provinces liberated from decades-long Armenian occupation in a recent 44-day military conflict.