FinMin pointing finger at treasury minister over Totalizator Sportowy issue

Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc has sent a letter to Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek in which he accuses Treasury Minister Andrzej Chronowski of effectively seizing control of the lucrative state lottery Totalizator Sportowy (TS) before it makes key investment decisions. Bauc complained that Chronowski has kept Treasury representatives from joining TS's supervisory board and having a say in running it, and hinted at the possibility of corruption being involved. "I would like to believe that these actions of Minister Chronowski are not linked ... with the lottery's upcoming decision to choose a systems operator worth 500 million zlotys as well as the fate of the Sluzewiec horse racing track," Bauc wrote in the letter published by Gazeta Wyborcza daily. Under law, the lottery monopolist is supposed to be administered equally by representatives of the Finance and Treasury ministries. Bauc apparently no longer sees himself and his ministry in a position to do this. The finance minister also complained of not being able to guarantee inflows from TS to the budget. (Reuters)