- The Polish government, at the request of Lithuania, ordered a cruise for citizens of this country from Germany in March 2020.
- Marek Grubarczyk and Anna Moskwa, who at that time were in charge of the Ministry of Maritime Economy, did not check whether the price offered by Polska Żegluga Bałtycka was appropriate and realistic. There is no trace in the documents whether they launched internal financial units in the ministry
- After the sea trip, it turned out that the ministry had abandoned it, under the pretext of the lack of documents confirming that the service was provided by the Polish Baltic Shipping Company.
- More important information can be found on the Onet home page
“We will return everything”
To understand this story, we need to go back to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. In mid-March 2020, it became clear that the virus imported from China was spreading across the continent.
On March 11, the Polish government of that time led By Mateusz Morawiecki Schools closed for two weeks. Four days later, the decision was made to close the borders to foreigners. Similar decisions are being taken by other EU countries.
Diplomats are conducting hectic consultations these days. Many EU citizens are stuck abroad. Countries are trying to recover them in every possible way. It is activated by, among others: the embassies of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Poland. It turns out that a group of residents of these countries are trying to return to their homeland from Germany. However, Poland stopped allowing foreigners to pass through its territory.
Car and passenger ferry “Baltivia”
The alternative is to travel via the Baltic Sea. In the port of Ystad, Sweden, there is a ferry called “Baltivia” belonging to the Polish Baltic Shipping Company, which can go to the German Sassnitz on the Rügen in two and a half hours. At this time, the Prime Ministers of Poland and Lithuania are also talking about this topic.
On 16 March, the then Deputy Head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Bartosz Grodecki, wrote to Marek Grubarczyk, who was then Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation. Sassnitz-Klaipeda (Lithuania) launch and rear contact are requested the next day. On 17 March, Gróbarczyk submitted a letter to the head of Polska Żegluga Bałtycka, Piotr Redmerski.
At the same time, it guarantees that “all costs and lost benefits (…) will be fully covered by the state treasury.” The wife then fulfills the same obligation in writing Gróbarczyk’s deputy Anna Moskwa (later Climate Minister). Everything happens very quickly. On that day, PŻB sends an offer to the Ministry.
The government has to pay PLN 890,000 for an 18-hour flight one way. Zloty. The ferry can accommodate 240 passengers and 250 cars. Marek Grubarczyk and Anna Moskwa, who at that time were in charge of the Ministry of Maritime Economy, immediately accepted the offer. They do not check whether the price is appropriate and realistic.
There is no indication in the documents whether internal financial units will be launched in the ministry. It is also not known on what legal basis they promise to reimburse the Polish company Baltic Baltic Shipping.
We will return to these topics later. Meanwhile, Baltivia will sail on March 17, 2020, heading to Klaipeda in Lithuania. While still on the cruise, it turns out that… there’s no one to take the ferry to Sassnitz. Originally, it was supposed to be a group of German citizens, but perhaps due to the chaos at the beginning of the pandemic, the arrangements turned out to be outdated. So the “Baltivia” sails back “empty” not to Germany, but to Ystad in Sweden.
“Cruise? What cruise?”
Finally, on March 25, the Polish company Baltic Shipping issued an invoice to the Ministry of Maritime Economy in the amount of PLN 1,23,000. PLN 516 (PLN 890,000 plus PLN 190,000 as the cost of the canceled flight in the other direction). At this point, strange things start to happen. The Ministry did not make the transfer, and two weeks later, PŻB sold the Ministry’s debts to the State Enterprise Development Fund.
So the FRS is knocking on the door of the Ministry of Maritime Economy and demanding repayment of more than 1 million Polish zlotys in debt. The Ministry responds to the Fund that… there is no document that would be a basis for paying the money. Ministry officials also reported that they are trying to cover the debts of the Ministry of Interior and Administration with funds allocated to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few months later, the Ministry of Maritime Economy was liquidated and absorbed by the Ministry of Infrastructure. In 2021, the company’s development fund is trying to recover the money again. no avail. The Ministry of Infrastructure responds in the same way: “We do not have the documents and we will not pay.”
According to information from Onet, 1 million Polish zlotys have not been found to this day. In this case, the current team at the Ministry of Infrastructure submitted a notification to the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office.
– Inefficiency, loss of millions, wrong decisions, and violations of procedures. These are the effects of the last years of PiS rule on the maritime economy. Thanks to audits, shocking information is surfacing. All cases with even a hint of irregularities should be settled, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchuka tells Onet.
Neither Marek Grubarczyk nor Anna Moskwa responded to a call request.
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