LONDON, March 10. /TASS/. Allwyn, a multinational operator of the national lottery in the United Kingdom, repaid the loan to European subsidiaries of Russia’s VTB and Sber banks after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing reporting statements of the company.

In 2020, a syndicate of banks, including the Sber’s subsidiary in the Czech Republic and the VTB’s subsidiary in Germany, extended a loan to Allwyn totaling 640 mln euro ($700 mln). According to the news outlet, the loan helped to reduce the financial burden of Allwyn, which participated at that time in the tender for becoming the UK national lottery operator. On March 15, 2022, the bid was approved by the UK Gambling Commission.

VTB was included into the UK sanction list immediately after the start of the special military operation. Restrictive measures against Sber came into force on March 1, 2022. Allwyn repaid the outstanding debt to both banks from March 22 to 25, 2022. "There is also no evidence to indicate the Russian loans were used to finance the bid for the lottery directly," The Guardian said.