The display was unveiled on Tuesday in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw and, according to PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek, is intended to show "wasted money and cheated people" in the handling of cash from Poland's National Recovery Plan.
Bochenek said the exhibition would tour the country in the coming days, accompanied by press conferences and meetings with local residents.
He claimed the funds, meant to rebuild the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and create new jobs, had been "squandered" on isolated projects unrelated to their intended purpose.
He alleged that much of the money went to relatives of government politicians or to business owners who had supported the ruling coalition’s election campaign, accusing the authorities of "a giant scam" and "misappropriation of funds."
PiS deputy spokesman Mateusz Kurzejewski said grants had gone to people linked to the governing Civic Coalition (KO) and announced that PiS would compile and publish a list of companies that had supported the KO and its presidential candidate Rafał Trzaskowski during the past election campaign.
The controversy erupted last week when social media users and media outlets highlighted what they said were examples of hospitality and catering businesses receiving EU grants for dubious purchases.
PM blames opposition: 'theft of time'
Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded that he would not tolerate any waste of recovery funds and promised swift action, including reclaiming money where abuse was clear.
On Tuesday, Tusk accused PiS of having blocked access to EU funds while in power, costing Poland valuable time.
He said the opposition bore "100 percent responsibility" for the current difficulties, citing what he called its "idiotic, aggressive and anti-European policy" and "theft of time."
However, he added that this did not excuse any inaction or negligence by current officials.
Regional Policy Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz told reporters on Tuesday that the government was pausing payments from the post-pandemic recovery plan to the hospitality and restaurant sector until each contract is reviewed.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said last week that corrective measures included the dismissal in late July of the head of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and audits of institutions responsible for selecting grant recipients.
She added that the contested programme represents less than 0.5 percent of the entire National Recovery Plan and is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses hit by the pandemic.
Poland's Regional Policy Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz speaks at a news conference in Warsaw on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
The Warsaw regional prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation last week, later transferring the case to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The EU Council approved Poland’s National Recovery Plan in June 2022. The first Polish request for payment was submitted after the change of government, in December 2023, with around PLN 27 billion arriving in April last year.
The first round of grants for the hospitality sector opened in May 2024, offering between PLN 50,000 and PLN 540,000 to cover up to 90 percent of eligible project costs.
According to PARP data, 3,005 contracts have been signed under the programme, with PLN 110 million paid out so far from a total budget of PLN 1.24 billion, the PAP news agency reported.
Tusk said his government remained determined to ensure that "billions from Europe stay in Poland rather than returning to Brussels."
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP