Greece on Monday announced the final stretch in efforts to privatize its national lottery, picking up the pace of long-delayed plans to ease its debt load through the sale of state assets.

The agency overseeing the privatization program, the Helllenic Republic Asset Development Fund, said it had short-listed three bidders and they will now submit a final binding offer to operate the lottery concession for 12 years.

An international consortium of Greece's OPAP SA (OPAP.AT) and Intralot SA (INLOT.AT), Italy's Lottomatica Giochi e Partecipazioni S.r.l., and U.S.-based Scientific Games Global Gaming S.à.r.l. was among the finalists. The other two were Austria's Oesterreichische Lotterien Gesellschaft m.b.H. and a joint Italian-Greek consortium of Sisal S.p.A., Damco Energy S.A. and Damlot S.A.

"It is encouraging that six leading gaming players are participating in the tender for the state lotteries. The competition will work to the benefit of the Hellenic Republic. This tender will revive the state lotteries and bring additional revenues to the Hellenic Republic as a result of the expected development," HRADF Chief Executive Costas Mitropoulos said in a statement.

Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited and Eurobank EFG Equities Investment Firm S.A. are acting as financial advisors to the fund.

Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners Law Firm and Karatzas & Partners Law Firm are the Greek legal advisors while Allen & Overy LLP is the international legal advisor to the HRADF.

In recent weeks, Greece has announced plans to sell a seafront property on the tourist island of Corfu and the broadcasting center Greece built for the 2004 Olympic Games. It has also invited bids for state-owned gas company DEPA and natural gas grid operator DESFA.

Those moves represent some of the first concrete steps by Greece in almost two years as part of plans to raise some EUR19 billion from privatizations by 2015, and some EUR50 billion over the medium term.

-By Alkman Granitsas, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 373 1774; alkman.granitsas@dowjones.com