While entrepreneurs from northern Poland applied for funding for things like yachts, bridge courses, and solariums, business owners from Podhale focused primarily on spa services, according to a review of the subsidy map published by the ministry.
The storm surrounding the National Reconstruction Plan (KPO) continues unabated. It all began with the publication on the fund's website of a map of companies that received funding. The grants, intended to support innovation and diversification to strengthen companies , were often awarded for surprising or absurd projects, such as the purchase of coffee machines, furniture replacements, or bridge courses. This sparked widespread outrage online.
A scandal erupted, prompting Katarzyna Duber-Stachurska, head of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, to resign from her position. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz announced a thorough review of the proper spending of the funds.
Advertisement See also: Hungry for profit? We serve hot companies on a virtual plate. Dessert? Real prizes!
Saunas and hot tubs in the Tatra Mountains
Let's return to the map of companies that received subsidies. Certain regional patterns can be observed. For example, companies operating in northern and central Poland applied for the purchase of yachts. Such applications are nowhere to be found in the south of the country. What was the KPO money spent on in Podhale? Onet decided to investigate. According to the analysis, most of the fund's beneficiaries in this region received funding for spa services, such as jacuzzis and saunas. The highlanders wanted tourists to have a variety of services to choose from – for example, they could use hot tubs or swimming pools – to make their facilities more competitive.
Some companies intend to use KPO funds to purchase sports equipment rentals (e.g., skis, bicycles). Accommodation facilities looking to expand their operations have applied for grants to open restaurants, for example.
“We are being turned into crooks and frauds”
Onet tried to talk to entrepreneurs who had received or would soon receive subsidies, but no one wanted to comment under their name .
“Are you surprised? We're being portrayed as crooks and frauds these days, and is it wrong that a facility like mine will build a small swimming pool to accommodate more families with children?” one business owner told Onet.
“Nobody here took yachts or solarium beds and sold them a year later when the project expired. People here really took advantage of this program to modernize their businesses. Despite this, I've already had calls from guests saying they were canceling their stay because I was a fraud and robbing the government, and they wouldn't spend their vacations in such a facility. I don't know if this subsidy I took out will ultimately “go south,” adds the Onet source.
It's worth noting that only a handful of businesses in the Podhale region will benefit from this support. There are 15,000 registered businesses in the Tatra County, most of which operate in the HoReCa sector and cater to tourists. However, only 31 businesses in the region will receive KPO funding.
“ Since we have thousands of tourism businesses in our region, and only a little over thirty have received subsidies, that's telling. (…) What's more, there aren't any large hotels, ski resorts, or truly renowned restaurants among the beneficiaries. Why? It's probably not because these facilities refused to accept up to half a million złoty or couldn't properly draft a project. There are hotels in the region that have previously applied for public aid or subsidies, but now they're not on the list of beneficiaries ,” Zofia, an official from Podhale who deals with EU funding, told Onet.
They couldn't prove a decline in income
She believes the reason for such low demand for subsidies is that the tourism industry in Podhale didn't need financial assistance. Companies that demonstrated a significant drop in revenue during the pandemic were eligible to apply for funding for the HoReCa sector. Meanwhile, the highlanders themselves admit that their businesses have made significant profits thanks to the pandemic.
“ Our facilities were closed for some time during the pandemic, but we were still able to welcome guests for the holidays every year. This all happened while tourists, due to border problems, weren't traveling to other countries on vacation, but were instead mostly relaxing at home. In Podhale, by the sea, and Masuria, many facilities were fully booked during the summer months. In the following two years, Mateusz Morawiecki's government additionally provided Poles with a tourist voucher, the proceeds of which also went to the HoReCa industry. Back then, Podhale really made a lot of money. That's why many facilities today couldn't access these KPO funds because they simply couldn't demonstrate the decline in revenue during the “Covid years,” Marian , the manager of a hotel in Zakopane, told Onet.
– Today we know that the pandemic has not brought any losses to Polish tourism, but only very large profits – he adds.
Hoteliers: We criticized the program's assumptions
The Polish Hotel Industry Chamber of Commerce (IGHP) has weighed in on the KPO subsidy issue. In a statement published on Monday, it pointed to the “need to change the poor legislation regulating subsidies.”
“In light of the wave of media hate that has been pouring down on the HoReCa industry in connection with the KPO program, as well as the irresponsible statements of some politicians suggesting that hoteliers and restaurateurs are being cunning, IGHP strongly protests against such practices and points to the need to change the poor legislation regulating subsidies, which leads to the irrational distribution of public aid. Hoteliers are not responsible for the quality of the programs and regulations under which they apply for funding for their projects, especially since no one has listened to our concerns about the KPO program that we have been raising for five years,” reads a statement from the Polish Hotel Industry Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber recalled that during the work on the National Recovery Plan in 2020 and 2021, it “repeatedly presented the concept of the post-COVID recovery of the hotel industry to the Deputy Prime Minister, ministers, and the President of the Republic of Poland.” It indicated that it requested funding from the National Recovery Plan for “hotel modernization and investments meeting sustainability criteria.”
“We criticized the project's flawed assumptions, which only promote business diversification. We warned that promoting a change in business profile risks reducing the company's activity in its own market and certainly will not lead to an increase in its resilience or competitiveness, while an overly dispersed or, worse still, misguided expansion of the business profile may be counterproductive,” IGHP pointed out.
Szyszko: Most of the investments are correct
Currently, the inspections announced by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Development regarding the granting of KPO subsidies to companies in the HoReCa sector are underway.
“ Most HoReCa program beneficiaries met the formal requirements specified in the National Recovery Plan, and any irregularities constitute a small percentage of the funds disbursed. Most of these investments indeed served to diversify activities ,” Jan Szyszko, Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, announced yesterday at a press conference.
The crisis team appointed within the ministry is conducting inspections at both the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and the five institutions responsible for selecting businesses for KPO funding. A particular inspection is being conducted at the Rzeszów Regional Development Agency, which faces the most doubts regarding the validity of granting subsidies.
Jan Szyszko announced that the results of all audits will be available in September, and if it turns out that abuses occurred during the selection of beneficiaries, those responsible will face financial consequences, including the return of funds.
During a press conference yesterday, Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz stated that no new funds for the HoReCa industry will be disbursed until individual contracts are reviewed for compliance with the program. She also announced two special inspections.
Was there any trading in companies?
Over the weekend, information surfaced online about alleged trading in companies with potential funding opportunities. Some entrepreneurs allegedly bought and sold companies with high potential for funding, as evidenced by screenshots of posts on Facebook groups. Funds Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz and spokesperson for the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development Aneta Zielińska-Sroka rejected allegations of alleged coordinated trading. They emphasized that the ownership history of the companies was not a criterion in evaluating applications.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced that the investigation into possible irregularities at the KPO, which was officially initiated on Friday by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, has been transferred to the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Therefore, the proceedings will be conducted by independent prosecutors.
