Zuzanna Dąbrowska: Subsidies from the KPO, or a cat with a twisted tail

Information warfare, issue number 3456, is raging in the media, and leading figures are showing no mercy. Former minister Waldemar Buda, following the classic rules of party propaganda, calls for "return the yachts, let's buy CT scanners," while former minister Przemysław Czarnek urges people to go to jail : " These people should be held accountable for this, because it's a lot of money, wasted and wasted by Poles. They should be imprisoned for this," he told Radio Republika.

Are "these people" also the Podkarpackie team, as Krzysztof Kłak, chairman of the Civic Coalition (KO) councilors' club in the regional council, announced in a statement cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). According to Kłak, the actions for which RARR (Rzeszów Regional Development Agency, one of five entities responsible for distributing KPO funds) was responsible "were carried out by direct, close, and trusted associates of the Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Władysław Ortyl," from the Law and Justice party (PiS). He refers to the current Deputy Marshal, Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak, "who served as Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy in the PiS government, responsible, among other things, for developing criteria for distributing KPO funds." Now, she oversees RARR in the voivodeship board.

The second person, nominated by Krzysztof Kłak, is Maria Fajger, a former PiS councilor and former director of the entrepreneurship support department at the Marshal's Office. Fajger currently heads the HoReCa project (grant for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism and culture sectors that have been affected by the pandemic) at RARR, and was previously responsible for distributing funds from the KPO.

According to Kłak, it was Ortyl "and his team who committed a grotesque distribution of EU funds, which, instead of supporting the country's reconstruction after the pandemic, went to, among other things, yachts, saunas, and houseboats."

But does this absolve the current coalition of responsibility? No, the rules adopted by the previous PiS government in 2023 could have been changed, and RARR is only one of five institutions responsible for subsidies.

Meanwhile, the cat with its tail wrung by politicians is suffering, and few believe the matter will ever be fully resolved. According to a report by the European Analytical Collective "Res Futura," most online discussions regarding the KPO were negative. Twenty-eight percent of commenters were upset by the waste of funds, "which were ultimately allocated to, among other things, summer cottages, restaurants, dance classes, yachts, and solariums, becoming a symbol of squandering resources instead of investing them." Eighteen percent of internet users believe that the KPO is largely an EU loan that will be repaid by future generations. So now it's just a matter of who can convince voters that their hands are cleaner. Perhaps the European Public Prosecutor's Office, to which Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek has referred the case regarding KPO subsidies, will be able to help.

Although Prime Minister Tusk was absolutely certain before the cabinet meeting that the Law and Justice party (PiS) was responsible for the scandal, coalition politicians insist that this is a matter that requires clarification. However, as government spokesman Adam Szłapka emphasizes, "the scale is not large." Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz from Poland 2050 is expected to provide clarification. She will likely also address media reports on subsidies for a guesthouse run by the wife of Civic Coalition MP Artur Łącki and a hotel in Spała, whose board includes the wife of Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty.

And the cat? Until Poland develops procedures and properly functioning services, no cat can sleep soundly.