GTech wins the lottery, ending contested Totalizator tender

The state lottery Totalizator Sportowy (TS) has chosen U.S.-based firm GTech for its online operator, ending a contested tender which contributed to the resignation of Andrzej Chronowski as Treasury Minister on Tuesday. In past weeks the ex-minister became ensnared in a dispute over control and supervision of TS with Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc, who accused Chronowski of blocking his delegates from co-managing the lottery before the key tender decision. The deal, valued at zl.500 million, gives Grytek, the Polish unit of GTech, the right to continue providing and maintaining real-time computer services for the lottery over the next ten years. Grytek' s current contract expires later in 2001. Norway's Telenor, the only other contender for the contract, lost the race, while U.S.-based private lottery operator AWI had been excluded earlier from the tender. The selection of GTech made by TS's three-member management now awaits Treasury approval. (Puls Biznesu, p.6; Reuters) A.Z.