The storm surrounding the KPO may trigger a crisis in the government
The National Recovery Plan (KPO) is part of the EU's programme to support economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . It is also intended to jumpstart the Polish economy and strengthen its resilience to potential future crises. The programme's budget exceeds €800 billion, of which nearly €60 billion, or approximately PLN 268 billion, has been allocated to Poland. A significant portion of this amount is allocated to energy modernization, power grids, and wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Investments in roads, railways, urban modernization and greening, healthcare and hospitals, nurseries, teacher support, and employee retraining are also supported. Support is available for research and development, robotization and automation in companies, as well as the modernization of farms and agri-food companies. As you can see, the scope of the KPO's impact is enormous, and all these investments are intended to propel our country to a higher level, making our lives more comfortable and safer.
During the previous term, the Sejm allocated a relatively small portion of the KPO budget, just over 0.5%, or less than PLN 1.4 billion, to support micro, small, and medium-sized businesses in the hospitality and catering industry (HoReCa), arguably the hardest hit by the pandemic. This funding is intended to help them diversify their operations so that they have a better chance of profiting and surviving in the event of another lockdown. According to government data, just over 1,600 contracts had been concluded with such companies by early April. And some of these contracts have sparked a furor.
It was preceded by the quiet and secretive resignation of the head of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development , which "Rzeczpospolita" was the first to report. It soon emerged that Katarzyna Duber-Stachurska's dismissal was due to irregularities in the allocation of subsidies to hospitality and catering companies. Controversy arose over issues such as the purchase of yachts, rental apartments, a PlayStation, a jacuzzi, and the expansion of a hotel's wardrobe. The opposition eagerly seized on the matter, with PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński even calling the KPO "the trough of the Civic Platform," though he was not deterred by the fact that the allocation of some subsidies was decided by people associated with his party, including the husband of former Prime Minister Beata Szydło.
The European Commission has requested clarification, and the prosecutor's office is also investigating the matter. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that action will be taken. However, there have also been calls for the resignation of Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałecz, Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, who loosened the criteria for granting subsidies to distribute the funds more quickly and efficiently.
False information about abuses in the HoReCa industry with KPOOn Sunday, Katarzyna Duber-Stachurska, the former head of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), took to LinkedIn to comment. "PARP is an executive agency; it does not make decisions about programs or establish criteria for granting funding. All procedures, regulations, and agreements are approved by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy; the Agency has no independence in this regard. This was the case with KPO HoReCa," she wrote.
It is currently unknown how many contracts with HoReCa companies are controversial. Some reports of abuses appearing on social media have already proven false, including the alleged KPO funding for cryptocurrency purchases by one company. Marcin Kierwiński, Minister of Interior and Administration, announced that if audits reveal irregularities, the state will take action, and the companies will lose their subsidies.
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