In May, we wrote about Saule's problems. There was a sharp conflict between Olga Malinkiewicz and the investors. After a few weeks, we learned the preliminary results of the opening audit published by Michał Gondek, a member of the Saule management board and vice-president of Columbus – there have been many illusions so far, and Polish perovskites need another 10 years and 1 billion zlotys. “Information that is not true, taken out of context, distorted, over-interpreted and harmful to the image and activities of the Saule group of companies,” says Olga Malinkiewicz.
For some time now, there has been a growing conflict in Saule concerning control over the company and its development strategy. The dispute was between Olga Malinkiewicz, Columbus Energy and the DC24 Alternatywna Spółka Inwestycyjna fund.
After personnel changes, the new authorities ordered an internal audit and its results may be surprising. It turns out that work on perovskite cells is at a very early stage of development and more than a billion zlotys are needed to achieve the planned goals.
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“In order to develop a product that can be used outdoors (e.g. on the roofs of warehouses), further expenditures of PLN 1.2 billion and further research and development work are necessary, which may take about 10 years (the previous Management Board declared that about PLN 100 million and 2-4 years would be enough for this purpose). The previous management's announcements regarding the level of advancement of the production line in 2020-2024 were very different depending on who they were addressed to and stated readiness for production at a level from 3,000 m2 to 40,000 m2,” reads Saule's press release.
In turn, the production of less complex solutions, i.e. first-generation modules with limited efficiency, limited service life, for indoor use only and maximum semi-automatic production of up to 25,000 m2, will, according to the research team, require at least another 2 years of research and development work and PLN 200 million in capital expenditure (excluding repayment of current liabilities) – it was added.
New management points out a number of irregularities in Saule
In the announcement, the new Saule management emphasizes that “the current level of development of perovskite cells is clearly inconsistent with the information that was communicated and provided in official documents by the previous Saule management, and in media communications by Olga Malinkiewicz. The audit revealed a number of irregularities and false information contained in reports to investors, as well as in applications for financing from public funds submitted, for example, to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.”
“In addition to information about the level of technological advancement, the information about the production capabilities of the Wrocław plant was also untrue, e.g. in the application for financing to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management from 2022, there is information about the plant's production readiness at the level of 40,000 m2 per year, while currently the Wrocław factory has a potential production capacity not exceeding 1,000 m2 per year (in shift mode with the participation of many specialists in full-time positions, raising doubts as to the repeatability of quality and stability of production) rather still at the level of laboratory tests,” it was added.
However, this is not the end of doubts in the current operation. It is also about the way funds from both investors and public funds were spent by the previous management. “Over the last 8 years of the Company's operations, according to the information provided by the financial director of Saule, over 50% of expenses – i.e. over PLN 140 million was not spent on research and development, production equipment, laboratory or full-time positions of scientific workers or engineers, but on other categories of expenses, i.e. maintaining the office in Warsaw, travel or financing the fleet for the Company's management board, ” we read in the release.
In connection with the audit results , the new management board of Saule Technologies decided to prepare a notification to the prosecutor's office about the possibility of committing a crime related to the extortion of public funds, as well as money from private investors, by the previous management board of the company and misleading investors – including stock exchange investors.
– What is most important is the fact that the audit confirmed the existence of technology and the possibility
its further development. Therefore, as a Company, we do not close ourselves to options for further cooperation and we encourage potential interested parties with the appropriate financial and technological background to talk about further joint development of Polish perovskites – says Michał Gondek, Member of the Management Board of Saule Technologies, Vice President of Columbus Energy.
Statement by Olga Malinkiewicz, Member of the Management Board of the Saule Group of Companies
On June 16, 2026, Mr. Michał Gondek, acting on behalf of Saule Technologies SA, published information regarding an audit allegedly conducted at Saule SA
The content provided by Mr. Michał Gondek contains information that is untrue, taken out of context, distorted, overinterpreted and harmful to the image and activities of the Saule group of companies.
1. No audit, just a quick internal analysis by the Saule team
No formal audit has been conducted at Saule SA recently, much less by an independent auditor.
The alleged “internal audit” referred to by Mr. Michał Gondek is in fact a nine-page presentation of an internal analysis of Saule's possible development plan for the next ten years. This document was prepared by the Saule SA team in just a few hours on May 28, 2025. It contains only a concise description of the current state of the technology and estimated assumptions regarding its potential development over the next dozen or so years.
It is worth emphasizing that the presentation does not contain any information that was not already known to all members of the Supervisory Boards of Saule SA and Saule Technologies SA, and in particular to Mr. Piotr Kurczewski from DC24, Dawid Zieliński and Mr. Michał Gondek from Columbus.
2. Michał Gondek's deliberate manipulation of Saule's financial statements
Since the inception of Saule, financial audits have been carried out regularly within the Saule Group, including at the initiative of DC24 and Columbus. None of these audits, including those by DC24 and Columbus, have had any objections raised to their results.
At a later stage of the company's operation, the current operational activity of Saule remained under strict supervision by DC24 and Columbus, conducted in the so-called “manual control” mode. All financial statements were approved by the Supervisory Board of Saule, under the control of DC24 and Columbus, were subject to audit by independent auditors, and the Management Board of Saule received a discharge each time. DC24 and Columbus exercised full control over each expenditure of funds by Saule.
3. DC24 and Columbus' Misunderstanding of Technological Issues
In his statement, Mr. Michał Gondek misunderstands the Saule production line technology by confusing two different production line performance parameters:
- The current production capacity of 1000 m2 per year refers to a specific product type (for indoor applications), manufactured in single-shift operation.
- The value of 40,000 m2 per year refers to the theoretical maximum of the line, assuming full automation and continuous operation, for a completely different type of product (e.g. large-format outdoor modules).
The application for co-financing submitted by the Saule company to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management clearly stated: “capacity up to 40 thousand m2/year”. It should be emphasized that the factory capacity parameter was not among the criteria necessary for granting co-financing by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. Only one criterion was needed – confirmed operation of the developed technology, demonstrated by the operation of the existing factory.
Comparing these values without the technological and operational context is a deliberate provision of false information and deliberate misleading by Michał Gondek.
4. Investment value – a deliberate manipulative interpretation by Michał Gondek
The investment amount of EUR 250 million indicated by Mr. Michał Gondek does not refer to a single investment or a single factory. It is an estimated value of a total, at least ten-year development plan, covering, among other things, the construction of production plants, research and development activities on subsequent generations of products and conducting operational activities in a longer time horizon. Presenting this amount as the cost of building a single factory constitutes a deliberate manipulation of information, aimed at misleading the recipients of this information.
5. Unfounded accusations of Saule providing false information
All of Saule's previous public announcements were not only consulted with all members of Saule's Supervisory Boards, controlled by DC24 and Columbus, but their content was in many cases directly shaped by these members. This was done under clear pressure, including threats to withhold further financing of Saule from DC24 and Columbus. These circumstances are confirmed by extensive and unambiguous documentary evidence.
I look forward to presenting the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Poland with all necessary information and documents confirming the correctness of the actions of the Management Board of Saule throughout all the years of its operation.
Olga Malinkiewicz, Member of the Management Board of Saule Technologies SA, Member of the Management Board of Saule SA
A bit of history of the conflict…
On May 19, 2025, the management board of Saule Technologies and Malinkiewicz herself declared that they were evading the effects of the concluded agreement, claiming that they had been misled by the DC24 fund . Malinkiewicz filed a notification with the National Prosecutor's Office about the suspicion of acting to the detriment of Saule Technologies and Saule SA by representatives of DC24 and Columbus Energy . She accused Piotr Kurczewski (president of DC24) of misleading her about investment intentions and forcing her to sign documents that could be used to make unfavorable dispositions of the company's assets.
May 19, 2025 – Columbus Energy, exercising its statutory rights, appointed new members of the supervisory boards of Saule and Saule Technologies, who a few hours later dismissed Malinkiewicz from the management board . She was replaced by Michał Gondek.
Let us recall that perovskite cells produced by Saule can generate energy not only from sunlight, but also from artificial light, they are light, flexible and transparent .
