Dutch national lottery seeks new chair
Alexander Pechtold has resigned from the position.
The Netherlands. The Dutch national lottery Nederlandse Loterij is seeking a new chair after Alexander Pechtold announced his decision to step down from the Supervisory Board from January 2026. The decision follows Pechtold’s appointment as the mayor of the southern city of Delft in a return to politics.
Formerly leader of the D66 party, Pechtold has chaired the state lottery operator since April 2021. He has sought to reshape leadership with several key appointments, including Arjan Blok as CEO, and toimprove the lottery’s actions in responsible gambling. The operator has also had to navigate the impact of the launch of regulated online gambling in the Netherlands six months after Pechtold took up the role.
Pechtold was reappointed to a second four-year term at the state lottery operator at the request of the Ministry of Finance earlier this year. However, he takes up the role of mayor of Delft in September.
He said in a statement: “I leave behind an organisation that is future-proof – clear in its positioning, ambitious in strategy, and driven by talented people. I thank my colleagues for their trust and will remain fully committed through the handover period.”
The Ministry of Finance, which holds shares in the operator, has begun seeking Pechtold’s successor. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is to see a general election on October 28, the results of which could determine the fate of secretary of state for legal protections Teun Struycken’s proposed gambling reforms, which include a possible rise in the minimum age for onine casino gambling.
In May, the Dutch government announced that it had decided not to consider the privatisation of Nederlandse Loterij or land-based casino operator Holland Casino. While the government didn’t rule out privatisation in the future, it said such a move would not be “feasible and proportionate” at the current time.
The possible privatisation of the state gambling operations had been put forward at a parliamentary committee debate last November as the coalition government evaluated further reforms for the Dutch gambling market.
