The matter became famous after the publication of Wirtualna Polska, which revealed that At the end of 2023, in the last weeks of the PiS government, the National Center for Agricultural Support gave consent to the sale of a 160-hectare plot to the vice-president of Dawtona, Piotr Wielgomas. The transaction price was approximately PLN 22.7 million. This plot is crucial because the planned railway line to the CPK is to run through it.
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The transaction is controversial, because the State Treasury got rid of the property, which, according to WP estimates, may currently be worth up to PLN 400 million. Dawtona has been leasing this area since 2008, and its owners have been unsuccessfully trying to buy it out for years. The situation changed after the elections of October 15, 2023, when it became clear that PiS was losing power. Before giving consent to the sale, the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Telus, visited Dawton's company, spending several hours there.
Behind the scenes of the transaction and political connections
Wirtualna Polska also revealed that during the 2023 election campaign, Dawtona prepared special tubes of fruit mousses as advertising gadgets. The packaging featured photos of politicians running in the elections and the PiS logo. Robert Telus admitted that he bought 1,500 tubes with his image for PLN 750. In 2023, the wholesale price of one sachet was PLN 2 net, while they were sold to MPs for PLN 50..
Piotr Wielgomas, the buyer of the plot, assures that he was not aware of the plans to build a railway through this area. He will soon meet with representatives of KOWR and the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the resale or exchange of the plot for another property.
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Wielgomas declares its readiness to sell it for the price it paid in 2023 if justified grounds arise. PiS politicians emphasize that the notarial agreement provides for the possibility of purchasing the plot by the State Treasury.
Political reactions and suspensions in PiS
After the case was publicized by the media, PiS suspended party members Robert Telus, Rafał Romanowski (former deputy minister of agriculture), Waldemar Humięcki (former head of KOWR) and Jerzy Wal (former deputy director of the KOWR branch in Warsaw). However, PiS politicians argue that the responsibility for the scandal lies with the current ruling coalition, which has not recovered the plot for almost two years. The case is currently being handled by the prosecutor's office.
Read also: The sale of land for the CPK causes a storm. The prosecutor's office is investigating the decisions of KOWR and PiS
During a press conference in the Sejm, PiS MP Jan Kanthak referred to the issue of tubes with the image of Telus, claiming that they were used during Campus Polska organized by Rafał Trzaskowski. Kanthak suggested that the state did not react, being aware of the five-year period for land repurchase, and asked whether the tubes and subsidies distributed were related to this.
Poll results: how did the case affect PiS's assessment?
In a SW Research survey for rp.pl, participants were asked whether information about the sale of the plot at the end of PiS's rule influences their assessment of the party.
42.4 percent respondents declared that after disclosing this information, they assessed PiS worse. 8.8 percent respondents rate the party better, and for 28.2 percent the case had no impact on their opinion. 20.6 percent respondents had not heard about the case.
Justyna Sobczak, senior project manager at SW Research, commenting on the study results, pointed out that the negative impact of land sales on PiS's assessment was more often declared by men than women.
Read also: The sale of the plot for the CPK is controversial. Government spokesman: the matter needs to be clarified
The percentage of people who assessed Jarosław Kaczyński's party worse increased with the age of the respondents, and almost half of the people with income above PLN 7,000 net and more than half of the inhabitants of cities with a population of over PLN 200,000. up to 499 thousand people expressed a negative opinion about PiS after the disclosure of the case.
