According to the state-owned Eesti Loto, an agreement to set up the game was signed on June 7 by 20 lottery firms spanning eight countries: Germany, Holland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Slovenia, Finland and Estonia.

Prize money will be pooled, meaning that weekly jackpot amounts are likely to be far larger than those of individual national lotteries. The minimum grand prize in Euro Jackpot will be 10 million euros, rus.err.ee reported.

The lottery that currently offers the largest jackpots in Estonia is Viking Lotto, a cooperative project between the national lotteries of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries that has been operating since 1993. Its grand prizes, usually under five million euros, will be eclipsed by those of the new game.

The first tickets for Euro Jackpot are slated to go on sale next spring.

Steve Roman