Canadian company Axes Network Solutions has filed a lawsuit against Polish national lottery operator Totalizator Sportowy, seeking close to PLN21.7m (€5.2m) in compensation.
The business supplied IT solutions to the Polish operator, which were used to run its network of slot halls, and it accuses Totalizator Sportowy of causing it financial losses.
The lawsuit was filed with the District Court of Warsaw and legal proceedings have been initiated with regard to a contract Totalizator Sportowy awarded to Axes Network Solutions in April 2019. The deal was intended to cover a four-year period, according to information obtained by local news site Gazeta.pl.
Axes Network Solutions claims it was forced to post financial losses and lost potential benefits, as the company expected to connect its services to a larger number of terminals than the number eventually ordered by Totalizator Sportowy.
The Canadian business also “purchased and maintained a stock of devices and spare parts for them that would allow them to perform quick repairs in case of malfunctions, in an amount adequate to the number of terminals that it had expected Totalizator Sportowy to collect”, according to the statement.
In a statement, Totalizator Sportowy rejected the Canadian company’s claims as groundless.
“Totalizator Sportowy does not recognise the claims of Axes Network Solutions, considering them to be manifestly unfounded,” the lottery operator said.
Axes describes itself as an information management platform for the global gaming and amusement industry.
“Having information in real-times fuels decisions, enhances loyalty and engagement and ensures timely and better decisions. The Axes platform is stateless and hardware independent. This means we can deploy private clouds anywhere,” the Canadian company said in a statement.
Poland’s amended gambling law, which entered into force in 2017, designated state-owned Totalizator Sportowy as the only entity allowed to operate slots outside casinos.
In addition to running Poland’s national lottery, the business operates a countrywide chain of slot halls and is the only legal operator of a Poland-based online casino.
In January 2025, amid a top management reshuffle, the supervisory board of Totalizator Sportowy appointed Beata Stelmach, a businesswoman and former politician, as the company’s new chief executive. The move came around three months after the board dismissed Rafał Krzemień from the post.
Polish state assets minister Jakub Jaworowski declared at that time that the dismissal was caused by “failing to comply with the highest standards” with regard to appointing regional directors at the company.
Last year, local media reported that numerous persons with political ties to Poland’s ruling parties were named as Totalizator Sportowy’s regional directors, replacing managers associated with the previous government.