The Finnish government has opened the possibility of Veikkaus being listed on Nasdaq Helsinki once the commercial gambling market goes live in 2027.

Finland’s online gambling market is on the verge of reform, moving away from a monopoly model under Veikkaus to a multi-licensed system from 2027.

Proposals were submitted by the Nordic country’s government to parliament in March, with plans in place to open up licence applications in 2026, before the commercial market goes live the following year.

Veikkaus, Finland’s monopoly operator, will retain exclusivity of lottery games once the change is implemented, as well as scratchcards and land-based slot machines.

The operator will also lose its horseracing monopoly, with the vertical being opened up to commercial operators.

Last month, Finland’s state-owned postal service, Posti, listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. The Finnish state continues to own 65.8% of the company, with around 11,000 private investors being involved in the IPO.

The listing of state-owned assets comes as the Finnish government aims to raise funds for a €4bn (£3.5bn) investment programme.

Speaking to MTV, Maija Strandberg, the director general of the ownership steering department, said Veikkaus, along with other state-owned businesses, were under consideration.

She said: “The matter can be considered after 2027. Of course, we are constantly considering whether there are companies in our portfolio that would be appropriate to list.

“Veikkaus has been mentioned as a name, but I would say that it is not yet relevant.

“Current legislation does not allow for listing and Veikkaus is not yet ready to list as a company.”

Strandberg also noted that the full sale of state-owned companies could also be on the table to raise funds, although she did not explicitly state this would apply to Veikkaus.

She added: “If the government sticks to this investment programme in its entirety, we cannot avoid selling listed companies as well.

“If the state enters the market and sells large amounts of assets, there will be no domestic buyer. Personally, I do not hope that Finland will become a subsidiary economy.”

Ahead of market regulation, Veikkaus recently announced it plans to create 28 jobs as part of a streamlining process. However, that process has seen redundancies made across its betting and igaming operations.

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