The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has recommended that Poland repay €90 million to the European Union for alleged irregularities in the procurement of power generators for Ukraine.
The spending was managed by Poland’s Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS) under the previous Conservative (PiS) government.
In its report on February 18, OLAF claimed the RARS procurement process “violated transparency, competition, equal treatment and the principles of sound financial management”.
That, it said, resulted in “contracts being awarded in a non-competitive manner, failing to ensure that the EU funds would reach their intended destination”.
RARS was also accused of issuing “large advance payments without sufficient guarantees, exposing EU funds to significant financial risk”.
OLAF claimed “some contractors charged RARS up to 40 per cent more than their purchase costs, leading to substantial overpricing of the EU-funded generators”.
The agency also said it had worked closely with Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) and Public Prosecutor’s Office, resulting in the arrest of at least three individuals. It did not provide further details.
Poland’s EU affairs minister Adam Szłapka blamed the previous PiS government for the situation. He called the OLAF findings “shocking” and an “indictment of PiS cronyism”.
Last year, a former head of RARS, who cannot be named under Polish law that protects the identities of those indicted, was accused by prosecutors of participating in an organised crime group, dereliction of duty and exceeding his powers for financial gain.
According to Polish media reports he had been charged with buying generators at inflated prices and delivering them to an area where he was standing for parliament instead of Ukraine.
The former head of RARS denied the allegations, reportedly stating that they were “false accusations” and part of a “dirty political game” being instigated against the last PiS administration by the current centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Last September, the former RARS official was detained in London after Poland issued an arrest warrant and is now facing extradition proceedings under police surveillance.
He is one of numerous former PiS officials being investigated on suspicion of fraud and abuse of power. That was in line with Tusk’s key election promise to punish all allegedly illegal activities of the PiS government.
Several indictments have related to emergency situations including the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine and to allegations that public spending was used to promote PiS and its candidates in the 2023 election.
