Czech Billionaire Expands His Weapons Company to Arm NATO
By and Andrea Dudik
Save
Hi, this is Krystof Chamonikolas and Andrea Dudik in Prague. Welcome to our weekly newsletter on what's shaping economics and investments from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. You can subscribe here.
One of the biggest investment themes of the year has been defense companies as Europe comes up with plans to spend billions of euros on new military hardware and rely less on an increasingly unpredictable US. And with that, Czech billionaire Michal Strnad wants to turn his Czechoslovak Group, or CSG, into one of the continent's most significant arms producers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
National Lottery group planning 36-hour outage for long delayed tech update
National Lottery group Allwyn is set to press the button on a long-delayed technology upgrade this summer that will stop retail terminals from working for 36 hours. The Czech-based group – which took over the 10-year licence to run the lottery from Camelot in February last year – has warned retailers it will need to carry out the tech switchover 'one weekend' over the summer months. It will mean retail point-of-sale terminals will not be able to take ticket sales for around 36 hours. It is believed that Allwyn is looking to minimise disruption by timing the upgrade to start at around 11pm on a Saturday night, with the National Lottery not trading overnight and no draw-based games on a Sunday. While the date has not been revealed, Allwyn's UK chief executive Andria Vidler has told retailers it will 'tie in best with our retail partners'. She has written to them asking for their 'help and diligence to enable a seamless transition'. The tech switchover has been beset by delays after Allwyn took over the licence, which has held back the launch of new draw-based games. It was unable to switch to a new technology provider after agreeing to extend the contract for the existing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT). IGT had challenged the Gambling Commission's decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence in court, but later dropped the legal action. Allwyn has previously admitted that delays to the new games it had hoped to introduce in 2024 will hold back the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. But the group remained committed to its long-term goal to double money for good causes, despite falling short of early targets. Allwyn said: 'Allwyn is investing over £350 million into improving the operations and technology of The National Lottery. 'This change is critical – it will give us the springboard from which we can continue to improve the player and retailer experience and enable us deliver on our ambitious plans to double returns to Good Causes from £30 million to £60 million a week by the end of the licence.' The lottery licence handover has been hampered by intense legal wrangling since it was first announced. Camelot took action over the Gambling Commission's decision to award the licence to Allwyn, which was finally settled when Allwyn bought Camelot, although the two companies continued to operate separately ahead of the handover. Media tycoon Richard Desmond is also suing the Gambling Commission after missing out on the licence in what is set to culminate in a High Court showdown. Details of the tech upgrade come as Allwyn revealed UK earnings halved at the start of 2025 despite a sales boost from March's record EuroMillions jackpot and strong demand for online instant win games. It reported a 6% rise in UK gross gaming revenues to 1.02 billion euros (£860 million) – up 4% with currency movements stripped out. Sales by amounts staked lifted 3% on a constant currency basis as players took a punt on the EuroMillions rollover in March with its record-breaking 250 million euro (£211 million) jackpot. The latest EuroMillions on Friday night could also see a single ticket-holder win the biggest lottery prize the UK has ever seen if they match the numbers in the draw. The wider Allwyn group, which runs lotteries across Europe, saw underlying earnings rise 1% to 362.3 million euros (£305.7 million) in the three months to March 31.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
National Lottery group planning 36-hour outage for long delayed tech update
National Lottery group Allwyn is set to press the button on a long-delayed technology upgrade this summer that will stop retail terminals from working for 36 hours. The Czech-based group – which took over the 10-year licence to run the lottery from Camelot in February last year – has warned retailers it will need to carry out the tech switchover 'one weekend' over the summer months. It will mean retail point-of-sale terminals will not be able to take ticket sales for around 36 hours. It is believed that Allwyn is looking to minimise disruption by timing the upgrade to start at around 11pm on a Saturday night, with the National Lottery not trading overnight and no draw-based games on a Sunday. While the date has not been revealed, Allwyn's UK chief executive Andria Vidler has told retailers it will 'tie in best with our retail partners'. She has written to them asking for their 'help and diligence to enable a seamless transition'. The tech switchover has been beset by delays after Allwyn took over the licence, which has held back the launch of new draw-based games. It was unable to switch to a new technology provider after agreeing to extend the contract for the existing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT). IGT had challenged the Gambling Commission's decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence in court, but later dropped the legal action. Allwyn has previously admitted that delays to the new games it had hoped to introduce in 2024 will hold back the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. But the group remained committed to its long-term goal to double money for good causes, despite falling short of early targets. Allwyn said: 'Allwyn is investing over £350 million into improving the operations and technology of The National Lottery. 'This change is critical – it will give us the springboard from which we can continue to improve the player and retailer experience and enable us deliver on our ambitious plans to double returns to Good Causes from £30 million to £60 million a week by the end of the licence.' The lottery licence handover has been hampered by intense legal wrangling since it was first announced. Camelot took action over the Gambling Commission's decision to award the licence to Allwyn, which was finally settled when Allwyn bought Camelot, although the two companies continued to operate separately ahead of the handover. Media tycoon Richard Desmond is also suing the Gambling Commission after missing out on the licence in what is set to culminate in a High Court showdown. Details of the tech upgrade come as Allwyn revealed UK earnings halved at the start of 2025 despite a sales boost from March's record EuroMillions jackpot and strong demand for online instant win games. It reported a 6% rise in UK gross gaming revenues to 1.02 billion euros (£860 million) – up 4% with currency movements stripped out. Sales by amounts staked lifted 3% on a constant currency basis as players took a punt on the EuroMillions rollover in March with its record-breaking 250 million euro (£211 million) jackpot. The latest EuroMillions on Friday night could also see a single ticket-holder win the biggest lottery prize the UK has ever seen if they match the numbers in the draw. The wider Allwyn group, which runs lotteries across Europe, saw underlying earnings rise 1% to 362.3 million euros (£305.7 million) in the three months to March 31. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Salt Lake City approves $200K loan to help ‘legacy business' relocate in Sugar House
A Provo startup that has also become a Sugar House staple for nearly a decade is getting a boost from Salt Lake City as it relocates within the neighborhood. The Salt Lake City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a $200,000 loan for Hruskas, LLC, through the Salt Lake City Economic Development Loan Fund program, following support from department officials earlier in the day. Better known as Hruska's Kolaches, the company has operated near the corner of 2100 South and 900 East in Sugar House since 2016. The loan seeks to help the business cover renovation costs and other expenses of a new location at 1751 S. 1100 East, a space last occupied by the bakery Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! The loan would also help Hruska's hire two new employees, while retaining nine existing employees, a city document notes. Its new location has had a few different tenants over the past decade, but it has been vacant for some time while 1100 East underwent a complete reconstruction that ended late last year. Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! was the last of those businesses, closing at the end of 2022 after initially surviving the economic constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged not long after it opened in 2018. The city hopes that Hruska's can help bring life back to the area. 'We're really excited about Hruska's relocating to this location as they are a legacy business — also a strong candidate to make that location work,' said Peter Makowski, deputy director of business development for Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development. It wasn't immediately clear when the relocation will take place, but city records show that Hruska's began securing permits to renovate the building last year. The business also applied for a city loan in June 2024. The loan comes with an 11% interest rate over seven years, most of which reflects the prime rate at the time of the application. Siblings Ross, Cory and Devin Hruska, all BYU students at the time, initially launched Hruska's Kolaches in Provo over a decade ago, according to the Deseret News. Their bakery specializes in Czech pastries with a mix of fruit and savory fillings, utilizing a family recipe passed down from generations. It has since grown to open five locations scattered across the Wasatch Front, and it was once featured on Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.'
