Veikkaus appoints Ilkka Kosola as CFO ahead of 2027 market opening

Veikkaus has appointed Ilkka Kosola as its next chief financial officer, bringing in external technology sector experience as the Finnish state monopoly prepares to compete in an open licensing market from 2027.

Kosola joins from Reaktor, a Helsinki-based technology group where he has served as group CFO since August 2022. Before Reaktor, he held the CFO position at energy company Adven Group and finance leadership roles at TietoEvry, Basware, and Fortum. He will join Veikkaus’ executive management team and assume the role before the end of September 2026, succeeding Regina Sippel, who left the company in March. Pessi Palomäki, vice president of group reporting, has been serving as interim CFO since Sippel’s departure.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Veikkaus team and to have the opportunity to contribute to the next chapter of this iconic Finnish company. Veikkaus is at a pivotal point in its history, and I am eager to apply my experience to support the company’s transformation and the execution of its new strategy in the opening licence market.” — Ilkka Kosola

On LinkedIn, Kosola described the move as an unexpected opportunity, noting he would not start immediately: “There are projects at Reaktor I want to lead to their conclusion, handovers I want to do properly and a team I want to leave in great shape.”

The 2027 transition

Finland’s Parliament approved a new Gambling Act that ends Veikkaus’ exclusive right to offer sports betting and online casino gaming. From 2027, those verticals move to a multi-licensing system, opening the market to international operators. Lottery operations remain under Veikkaus’ exclusive remit.

The company has been restructuring for the post-monopoly environment. In late 2025 it initiated change negotiations covering 75 employees across three functions, with projections of 20 to 31 contract terminations alongside the creation of 22 to 28 new roles. Veikkaus has described these changes as necessary to build the operational agility required to compete once the market opens.

Kosola’s appointment fits the brief the company has set. His background spans financial leadership in transformation-stage businesses, with technology and energy sector experience rather than a gaming industry background. That profile, combined with Finland’s 2027 deadline, indicates Veikkaus is prioritising structural change management over sector-specific finance expertise in this hire.

A challenging financial baseline

Veikkaus’ 2024 results show the scale of the task ahead. Group sales revenue fell 7.2% to €959.1m, while operating profit dropped 19.5% to €461.6m. The company attributed part of the decline to mandatory ID verification requirements introduced for coupon games in 2023 and extended to scratchcards in 2024, the latter driving a 44% fall in scratchcard revenue. The lottery tax paid to the Finnish state also rose to the 12% rate specified in the Lotteries Act, adding €62.6m in tax cost compared to the prior year.

Registered customer numbers held up, growing by 15,000 to over 2.5 million by mid-2024, but the revenue trajectory going into the liberalisation window is downward. Stabilising that while simultaneously reconfiguring the business for competition will be the central financial challenge Kosola inherits.

International operations as a hedge

Veikkaus has been scaling its B2B subsidiary Fennica Gaming as a parallel growth stream. Established in 2022, Fennica Gaming now delivers eInstant products to corporate clients across 17 countries on three continents, including France, the United States, and Canada. The subsidiary reported growth in turnover in 2024, though Veikkaus has not disclosed specific figures. International B2B revenue insulates the group partially from domestic market share loss once Finnish competition opens.

Kosola’s experience at Reaktor, a technology business with international operations, maps more directly onto this B2B growth agenda than it does onto the consumer gaming side of Veikkaus’ business.

Competitive pressure building

Multiple established European operators are understood to be preparing licence applications for the Finnish market. Betsson, which reported full-year revenue growth of 8% in 2025 despite rising gaming taxes across its existing markets, is among those widely expected to enter. Operators entering will arrive with established technology stacks, performance marketing infrastructure, and international player acquisition experience — areas where Veikkaus, as a former monopoly, starts from a materially different position.

Regulatory appointments across European markets have increasingly signalled a tightening compliance environment, as reflected in the regulatory patterns that defined 2025. Finland’s new framework is expected to impose strict constraints on marketing — including restrictions on bonusing, affiliates, and influencer activity — which limits the tools available to both incumbents and new entrants.

Veikkaus has stated it aims to remain the market leader in Finland after liberalisation. Delivering on that position will require the company to complete its internal restructuring, grow Fennica Gaming’s international revenues, and build the competitive finance and technology architecture needed before the 2027 window opens. Leadership appointments at state-linked gaming bodies across Europe have increasingly reflected this shift toward commercially experienced executives capable of managing regulated competition rather than administering monopoly operations.

Source: Veikkaus