KARR President and Supervisory Board Dismissed Amid Lower Silesia Flood Aid Scandal

The Lower Silesian regional board has dismissed the president and supervisory board of the Karkonosze Agency for Regional Development following serious irregularities in the distribution of flood relief funds.

Earthquake in Lower Silesia Over Flood Support Irregularities

An earthquake has hit Lower Silesia following reports of serious irregularities in the distribution of flood support. The regional board decided to immediately dismiss the president and the entire supervisory board of the Karkonosze Agency for Regional Development (KARR). The prosecutor’s office and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) are already intervening in the matter, and political consequences may reach the marshal himself.

The president and the supervisory board of the Karkonosze Agency for Regional Development were dismissed, the spokesperson for the Lower Silesian marshal announced on Friday. This is the result of information regarding irregularities related to flood support, which KO councillors had called for a day earlier.

Millions in Aid and Ties to the Vice-President

As announced on Friday in a statement provided to the media by Lower Silesian Marshal’s spokesperson Michał Nowakowski, the regional board decided to dismiss KARR President Hubert Papaj and the entire supervisory board of the company. “The decision was made out of concern for the transparency of the Karkonosze Agency for Regional Development’s operations,” Nowakowski stated.

He recalled that on Tuesday, “due to moral and ethical reservations,” KARR Vice-President Anna Konieczyńska was dismissed from her function. A day earlier, the Wirtualna Polska portal reported that 4.5 million zlotys of flood aid from KARR S.A. went to three entities from the same area, even though four independent sources exclude the possibility that they suffered as a result of the flood. The money was received by entities linked to the agency’s vice-president, a Civic Coalition (KO) activist.

New Company Leadership Appointed

On Friday, Nowakowski also announced that a new supervisory board had been appointed, the composition of which was finalized in recent days and which will bring together individuals with legal experience and ownership supervision background.

The work of the company’s management board is to be led by Marek Leśniak, PhD, a professor at the University of Wrocław, who was appointed as the chairman of the company’s supervisory board and delegated to perform the duties of the president.

“The task of the new Management Board and Supervisory Board of the Company will be to audit the Company, closely cooperate with institutions conducting control proceedings in KARR S.A. – the Prosecutor’s Office, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Ministry of Development and Technology, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, and prepare a competition for the position of President of the Management Board after the completion of all control activities by authorized institutions,” Nowakowski explained.

Councillor Motions and CBA Control

Flood subsidies distributed by KARR have been of interest to Jelenia Góra investigators since Monday, as they launched proceedings regarding potential irregularities. The CBA has also been looking into the matter since April. Regardless of this institution’s actions, the Ministry of Development and Technology is also conducting its own audit.

On Thursday, Civic Coalition councillors declared that they demand the dismissal of Karkonosze Agency for Regional Development President Hubert Papaj and the company’s supervisory board. In their opinion, the dismissal of the previous vice-president was an insufficient step in light of information about irregularities related to flood support.

On the same day, a group of seven non-aligned councillors (formerly Law and Justice councillors, currently outside that club) announced that they would strive to carry out the procedure to recall regional Marshal Paweł Gancarz (PSL). In their opinion, the decision to dismiss the KARR vice-president was made too late, and political responsibility falls on the regional leader.

For such a motion to be processed on the initiative of councillors, at least one-fourth of the statutory composition of the regional assembly is required. There are 36 councillors in the Lower Silesian assembly, which means the applicants lack the support of 2 more councillors for the motion to recall the marshal to be processed.