- Title: ALBANIA: SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WINS STATE LOTTERY
- Date: 23rd February 1997
- Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (FEBRUARY 23 AND 24, 1997/ RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (FEBRUARY 24, 1997) 1. LV EXT TELEBINGO OFFICES 0.06 2. CU SIGN FOR 'TELE-BINGO' 0.10 3. SV MAN CHECKING LOTTERY TICKET 0.20 4. SV PEOPLE BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS (3 SHOTS) 0.44 (FEBRUARY 23, 1997) 5. GV SEVEN-YEAR OLD LOTTERY WINNER BIANKA VUCINA'S NEIGHBOURHOOD 0.52 6. LV EXTERIOR OF BIANKA'S AUNT'S HOUSE 0.55 7. LV/CU BIANKA PLAYING WITH HER FRIENDS IN GARDEN (4 SHOTS) 1.18 8. LV INTERIOR OF HOUSE, BIANKA SITTING, WATCHING TV CARTOONS WITH FRIENDS AND GRANDMOTHER 1.26 9. SLV AUNT EXPLAINING HOW HAPPY SHE IS THAT BIANKA WON BECAUSE SHE SUFFERED SO MUCH AND THEY HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY INVESTMENT SCHEMES (ALBANIAN) 1.32 10. SV TAPESTRY OF MECCA 1.37 11. SCU BIANKA SAYING SHE WILL BUY A MERMAID DOLL WITH HER WINNINGS AND GIVE SOME MONEY TO HER MOTHER (ALBANIAN) 1.52 12. CU BIANKA SHOWING HOW SHE PRAYED TO WIN 1.56 13. CU AUNT AND BIANKA HUGGING 2.03 (RECENT) 14. LV PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE OFFICES OF VEFA -- ALBANIA'S LARGEST HOLDING COMPANY (WHICH ALTHOUGH NOT A PYRAMID COMPANY, IS POTENTIALLY THREATENED) 2.09 15. SV PEOPLE LOOKING AT A LIST OF NAMES (2 SHOTS) 2.20 16. SV/LV PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE VEFA (6 SHOTS) 2.58 Initials s3, p3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 10th March 1997 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TIRANA, ALBANIA
- City:
- Country: Albania
- Reuters ID: LVAA9DXHCNGFQXKRXCT0KXMND4EC
- Story Text: INTRO: A seven-year-old Albanian gipsy girl whose relatives lost money in failed investment schemes has won a big prize in the country's national lottery.
Bianka Vucina, who lives with her grandmother since being abandoned as a baby by her parents, said that she prayed to Allah for some money and ended up winning the state lottery, Tele-bingo.
She won 70,000 lek (about 7,000 U.S. dollars), in a country where the average wage is 80 dollars a month.
Bianka appeared on national television on Sunday. Her relatives, like hundreds of thousands of Albanians, have lost money in failed investment schemes.
Bianka said that she plans to buy a mermaid doll and give some of the money to her mother, who now lives in Italy with a Tunisian husband.
Bianka's aunt, who was given a share of the winnings, said the family had suffered a lot but were now being helped by her niece.
Hundreds of thousands of people play the weekly national lottery in Albania. The draw is on Sunday and the top prize can be as much as 700,000 lek (70,000 dollars). It has become increasingly popular since Albanians discovered they had lost money in failed, so-called pyramid schemes.
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