EU pandemic recovery funds in Poland bankroll luxury and non-health items
By ramontomeydw // 2025-08-18
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  • Poland launched a program to track COVID-19 recovery fund allocations, but it revealed questionable spending – including grants for luxury yachts, tanning beds in a pizzeria and an enterprise linked to an adult club.
  • The scandal fueled attacks from the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which denounced Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition for mismanagement. PiS staged protests, calling it one of Poland's biggest scandals since 1989.
  •  Finance Minister Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz suspended further fund disbursements pending a full audit, while Tusk blamed rushed implementation due to delays under the previous PiS government.
  • Some grant recipients argued their spending complied with rules, such as a restaurateur who purchased yachts for tourist rentals during potential lockdowns and another who claimed funds went to machinery, not the adult club at the same address.
  • The European Commission stated Poland is responsible for fund management, while prosecutors launched inquiries. The scandal strains Tusk's coalition and bolsters PiS amid ongoing political tensions.
Poland launched a transparency initiative meant to show where Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic recovery funds were allocated, in a bid to answer allegations that the money was misused. However, the initiative instead exposed questionable spending – with grants awarded to businesses linked to yachts, an adult club and tanning beds. The scandal erupted after the Polish government published online maps of the HoReCa scheme  designed to aid struggling tourism, hospitality and cultural venues. The maps detailed the allocation of 1.2 billion Polish zlotys ($329.15 million), part of the country's long-delayed EU COVID-19 recovery package. However, the maps became the focal point of controversy when they revealed where the money actually went. These included a pizzeria that added solarium beds, luxury boat purchases and an enterprise registered at the same address as an adult club. Finance Minister Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz suspended further disbursements pending scrutiny of all grants. Opposition lawmakers meanwhile seized on the revelations to attack Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition government. Poland's former ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) denounced the grants as proof of corruption under Tusk's administration. PiS MEP Tobiasz Bochenski staged a protest outside the prime minister's office. He unveiled a satirical plaque for a fictional "Ministry of Herring and Vodka" – a jab at a grant recipient – Bochenski could not help but brand the scandal "one of the biggest since 1989."

Tusk in turmoil: How Poland's recovery funds went off course

Tusk, who campaigned on unlocking frozen EU funds tied to past rule-of-law disputes, blamed the previous PiS government for delaying the program, forcing rushed implementation. "Some people took advantage," the prime minister acknowledged. He also pointed out that the money was spent "in ways that, rightly, people find questionable – if not outright infuriating." (Related: New report reveals how $200B in COVID-19 relief aid was STOLEN.) Meanwhile, some recipients defended their expenditures, arguing they complied with diversification rules set under PiS. Grzegorz Urbaniak, a restaurateur in the city of Lodz in central Poland, was among them. Urbaniak told Money.pl that his purchases of yachts using pandemic relief grant money were for tourist rentals during potential future lockdowns. "We didn't get this money for vacations," the restaurateur remarked. Another grantee whose business shared an address with an adult club insisted funds went toward metalworking machinery. The European Commission stated it is monitoring the situation but emphasized that Warsaw bears responsibility for fund management. Prosecutors have launched preliminary inquiries, and an audit is expected by late September. The uproar complicates Tusk's already fraught political agenda, testing the cohesiveness of his coalition and emboldening PiS as Poland navigates both recovery and accountability. Check out MoneySupply.news for more similar stories. Watch this video about the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency allocating $500,000 for luxury catering and meals for disaster response teams. This video is from the NebraskaJournalHerald channel on Brighteon.com.

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