Casinos Austria Names Andreas Bierwirth CEO From March 2027 as Its Licences Near Expiry

The group's chief transformation officer will succeed Erwin van Lambaart and run Austria's gambling incumbent through the end of its online monopoly and the reaward of its licences. The shareholders have chosen an insider with a record of steering former monopolies into competition.

• The supervisory boards of Casinos Austria and Österreichische Lotterien (Austrian Lotteries) appointed Andreas Bierwirth on 21 October as the next chief executive of both companies, with effect from 14 March 2027
• Erwin van Lambaart told the board in September that he would not seek to extend his five-year contract, which ends in March 2027, saying a new leadership team would benefit the business in a changing environment
• Bierwirth, a former co-chief executive of Austrian Airlines and chief executive of T-Mobile Austria, now Magenta Telekom, has sat on the group's management board as chief transformation officer since October 2025
• The management board will shrink from three members to two, Bierwirth and finance chief Martin Škopek, and the length of Bierwirth's contract was not disclosed
• The change lands as Austria's online gambling reform clears its EU standstill on 5 November and the group's casino, lottery and online licences approach expiry

Bierwirth Moves Up as Van Lambaart Declines a New Term

The supervisory boards of Casinos Austria AG and Österreichische Lotterien GesmbH appointed Andreas Bierwirth on 21 October as Generaldirektor of Casinos Austria and chairman of the management board of Austrian Lotteries from 14 March 2027, according to the group's German-language release. Erwin van Lambaart, who will be 64 by then, told the board in September that he would not seek a further term when his five-year contract ends in March 2027, believing "the changing environment will benefit from a new leadership team" (our translation).

The board ran an international search led by an unnamed executive search firm, and a broad field produced "a clear recommendation", the group said. Supervisory board chairman Robert Zadrazil had said on 19 October that the process was agreed with the two main shareholders, Allwyn and ÖBAG. The release gives no contract length or terms. From March the management board will have two members, Bierwirth and finance director Martin Škopek, and the release does not say who takes over Bierwirth's current brief: the international casino business, Casinos Austria International, digital development and group project management, according to the September 2025 release that appointed him.

An Airline and Telecoms Executive With a Prior Seat at the Group

According to a CV published by DO & CO, the airline caterer whose supervisory board he chairs, Bierwirth was managing director of Germanwings, then a board member of Austrian Airlines from 2008 to 2012, as chief commercial officer, interim finance chief and, from 2009 to 2011, co-chief executive. He ran T-Mobile Austria, renamed Magenta Telekom in 2019, from 2012 to 2023, then group retail at Erste Bank for a year. He sits on the Finnair board and served on the Casinos Austria supervisory board from 2015 to 2018. The group's 2025 release credited him with the privatisation of Austrian Airlines and its integration into Lufthansa, and with turning T-Mobile into Magenta after its takeover of cable operator UPC.

ÖBAG board member Edith Hlawati said that after a year inside the group Bierwirth knew its challenges well and had led established companies into competitive markets. Allwyn chief executive Robert Chvatal said van Lambaart had left the companies "well positioned for the upcoming award of concessions". Zadrazil pointed to a solid financial base and an advanced digital transformation.

Who Owns the Group, and What It Faces

Allwyn holds about 59.7% of Casinos Austria through two holding companies and ÖBAG, the state holding company, 33.24%, according to the company profile published by Austrian business magazine trend, which puts Casinos Austria's stake in Austrian Lotteries at 68%. ÖBAG nominated Zadrazil, who took the chair in March. Allwyn, which completed its merger with OPAP in March, has stripped higher Austrian gaming taxes out of its underlying growth figure.

The Finance Ministry notified its draft gambling law to the European Commission on 4 August, and the standstill ends on 5 November, according to the Commission's TRIS record. The draft replaces the single online licence, held by Austrian Lotteries' win2day, with an open concession procedure. Unlicensed operators must stop serving Austrians by 1 January 2027 or face an 18-month bar from a concession, 24 months from 2030. Casino concessions would be fixed at 13 and could be awarded in packages, according to the ministry. Win2day's authorisation runs until 30 September 2027, with new online operations from 1 October 2027, according to SBC News, and six of the 12 casino licences expire in 2027 and six in 2030, as we reported in January.

An Insider Appointment Buys Continuity at the Worst Possible Moment to Change

A year ago the shareholders extended van Lambaart's and Škopek's contracts and said they would discuss their roles beyond the second quarter of 2027 "to ensure stability and continuity in the coming licence period". Instead the chief executive leaves in March 2027, in the year the licences are due to be reawarded and before the new online market opens. Promoting the board member already in the room is the least disruptive answer available. Bierwirth has had a year inside the business and already runs the digital work that the online opening makes central. The trade-off is that the board loses a member just as its workload peaks, and the release is silent on how his current responsibilities will be covered.

The Hard Part Is Losing a Monopoly, Not Winning a Tender

Hlawati's endorsement is the revealing one: the qualification she cites is leading established companies into competitive markets, which is what Bierwirth did at a privatised flag carrier and at a mobile operator. Austrian Lotteries is about to lose the exclusivity of win2day, and Entain has said it expects to be a major player in an open market through bwin, according to SBC News. The timetable gives the incumbent a head start: offshore operators that want a concession must leave by 1 January 2027, while licensed rivals cannot start until 1 October 2027, so for nine months win2day would face no licensed rival and none of the would-be applicants. That is good for channelisation only if players follow the brand rather than drift to operators with no intention of applying. The casino side looks more protected still: the ministry wants packages awarded so as to minimise competitive pressure between casinos, which it presents as player protection and which would appear to favour a bidder able to take a whole package.

Two Shareholders Will Judge Him on Different Measures

Allwyn controls the group, but the Republic of Austria, through ÖBAG, holds a third of it and nominated the chairman. For Allwyn, now a listed group after the OPAP merger, Austria is a market where tax rises have already cut into reported growth, and a CEO with a commercial and restructuring record fits that priority. For ÖBAG, the group is a licence holder whose standing with the state matters as much as its margins. Bierwirth's success will depend on satisfying both through a licensing process run by the same state that owns a third of his company.

Casinos Austria has chosen a known insider over an outside reset, which suits a group that cannot afford a disrupted handover in a licensing year. Whether a transformation specialist can keep the casinos and lotteries while giving up the online monopoly will be clear only once the first concessions are awarded.