The Ostrołęka Power Plant's withdrawal from the construction of the Ostrołęka C coal-fired unit and the coverage of the general contractor's claims in the amount of over PLN 958.1 million net was illegal (incompatible with the terms of the concluded contract) and uneconomical – according to an audit carried out by the Supreme Audit Office.
In the Chamber’s opinion, the management board violated the interests of Elektrownia Ostrołęka by failing to properly protect the assets entrusted to it.
According to the Chamber, the reason for such actions was the desire to settle the investment as quickly as possible, which was to enable the commencement of the next one – the construction of a steam-gas unit in which natural gas is to be used to produce electricity instead of coal.
In connection with the audit findings, NIK is preparing a notification to the prosecutor's office about a suspected crime consisting in causing significant property damage to Elektrownia Ostrołęka by members of its management board due to their failure to fulfill their duties.
It was reported that the audit also showed that the company's management misled the investors, i.e. Enea and Energa (which each hold a 50% stake in the Ostrołęka Power Plant), by providing them with incomplete and false information on the settlement process and the completion of the Ostrołęka C investment.
“The Management Board informed that its total cost amounted to PLN 958 million, while this was only the sum of settlements with the general contractor, not including, for example, the costs of contracts concluded with law firms handling the settlement process,” NIK reported.
In November 2020, two vice-presidents of the management board of Enea submitted a request to the then minister-coordinator of special services to cover the investment settlement process with anti-corruption protection.
In their opinion, the company's need to incur what were termed “sunk” project costs, while simultaneously lacking access to documents confirming the scope of work actually carried out to justify the declared expenditures, posed a significant threat to Enea's solvency.
Despite the submitted application, the project settlement was not covered by anti-corruption protection.
As indicated, the purpose of the audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) was to verify the accuracy of settlements between the Ostrołęka Power Plant and the general contractor of the investment and to oversee the closure process. The Supreme Audit Office conducted two previous audits related to the construction of a new power unit at this power plant in 2020 and 2021. Both resulted in negative assessments of all audited entities, whose actions or omissions resulted in the irretrievable loss of over PLN 1.3 billion as a result of the investment.
The latest audit covered the years 2020-2024, however, the actual completion and settlement of the investment took place in June 2022.
The main irregularity identified during the latest audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Office was the settlement and closure of the investment without complying with the provisions included in the contract for the construction of the Ostrołęka C Power Plant with a capacity of approximately 1,000 MW, which infringed the company’s interests and assets.
“Rules were adopted that make it difficult or even impossible for the company's management and employees to properly verify the validity and amount of the claims submitted by the main contractor,” it was written.
“The management board agreed to adopt solutions that were unfavorable for the company, despite being aware of the difficulties and problems related to the quality of the project documentation provided to it. It also waived the possibility of charging penalties for breaches of the contract, as provided for in the contract,” the report added. (PAP Biznes)
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