Kaczynski checks if foul play was involved in TS tender
Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski has asked the Lodz-based prosecutor's office
to open an investigation into the tender for a contract to run the state
lottery Totalizator Sportowys (TS) online operating system to determine
whether foul play led to U.S.-based GTech being selected as the tenders
winner. Kaczynski filed a request to launch the investigation after he
received information from Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc pointing to
corruption among TS officials, according to the daily Rzeczpospolita. Last
month the U.S. ambassador to Germany allegedly met with Bauc to inform him
of unfair practices taking place in the tender. The Americans are reportedly
interested in clarifying the issue since two U.S.-based companies, GTECH and
AWI, participated in the running for the contract valued at some zl.500
million. AWI, which was excluded from the tender early on in the race,
claims that it was treated unjustly by the TS supervisory board when it was
not given a chance to make an offer for the contract. Totalizator President
Wladyslaw Jamrozy rejects all accusations of corruption, saying TS has
detailed documentation that proves the tender was carried out in accordance
with the law. (Rzeczpospolita, March 3-4, p. B3)A.Z.
