Minister Coordinator of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak announced this morning that, on the order of the prosecutor of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Białystok, agents of the Central Anticorruption Bureau detained 25 people in connection with the Ostrołęka Power Plant. The investigation covers the years 2018-2019 and concerns actions to the detriment of Elektrownia Ostrołęka, Enea SA and Energa SA.
As Jacek Dobrzyński, the spokesman for the Minister Coordinator of Special Services, clarified, this is about causing damage as a result of incompetence and failure to fulfill duties by members of the management and supervisory boards of the above-mentioned companies.
Investigators do not reveal who was arrested. However, it is known that these are members of the management and supervisory boards of the Ostrołęka Power Plant and the Enea and Energa companies. Unofficial information from Onet, obtained from sources close to the prosecutor's office, showed that searches were also carried out in the apartments of PiS politicians Krzysztof Tchórzewski and Arkadiusz Czartoryski.
Krzysztof Tchórzewski confirmed in an interview with Onet that the CBA showed up at his apartment in the morning.
"They knocked at six in the morning. I opened the door, there was no need to force entry. They searched the apartment very thoroughly, but they did not find what they were looking for," Krzysztof Tchórzewski notes in an interview with Onet.
As he adds, he has nothing to complain about regarding the Ostrołęka Power Plant.
On the contrary, I am proud of this investment. There was consent from the European Commission for a coal-fired power plant due to the needs also related to Lithuanian problems related to renewable energy sources, because they had no reservations. After all, the sun didn't shine at night. So we had to give some of our energy to them. The European Commission approved the entire program for the construction of this power plant, because renewable energy sources must be powered, so to speak: conventional, as reliable when nature does not act - explains the former minister.
He said he did not expect to hear any charges in this case. All things have already been checked. The Supreme Audit Office questioned me for several hours on all these matters. And all these matters were done in accordance with the regulations, in terms of arrangements, decision-making, etc. - the politician defends himself.
There have been reports in the media that among those detained is the current president of Westinghouse, a company that is part of the executive consortium of the first Polish nuclear power plant, which is to be built in the Choczewo commune in Pomerania. Minister of Energy Miłosz Motyka commented on this matter, stating that "the detention of the current president of Westinghouse in Poland in connection with irregularities during the construction of the power plant in Ostrołęka does not affect the negotiations regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant."
This is the action of an independent prosecutor's office (...). However, this will certainly have no impact on the negotiation process. We are in contact with the American side, so we do not see any risks here, Motyka told journalists.
Motyka emphasized that Deputy Minister of Energy Wojciech Wrochna, who supervises this process, is in contact with the American side.
According to information provided earlier, negotiations regarding the contract for the construction of the power plant should be completed by the end of this year.
