On Wednesday, the prosecutor's office submitted an indictment to the court against, among others, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski – former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the PiS government. It's about causing KOWR to grant bank and credit guarantees to two companies, contrary to the regulations.
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Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski accused of pointless and unsparing public expenditure
“In the opinion of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, the actions of the accused Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski led to… inappropriate and wasteful public expenditure and caused damage to the public interest“- we read in Wednesday's statement from the spokesman of this prosecutor's office, Mateusz Martyniuk.
This is about the investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office irregularities in the activities of the National Center for Support for Agriculture (KOWR). It concerned, among others, granting bank and credit guarantees to Eskimos SA in 2018-2019 to carry out the purchase of PLN 500,000. tons of industrial apples, as a result of which KOWR had to pay a guarantee sum of nearly PLN 100 million.
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The proceedings also included the issue of causing KOWR to incur public expenses in the amount of PLN 30 million in connection with the granting of credit guarantee of the Bielmlek Dairy Cooperative. According to the prosecutor's office, these guarantees were granted despite the knowledge of the poor financial situation of both companies.
Commenting on the accusation, the head of the Ministry of Justice, Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek, emphasized that, according to the prosecutor's office, granting financial guarantees to both entities led to losses of public funds in the amount of approximately PLN 130 million.
The case of Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski. Almost 20 defendants
Prosecutor Martyniuk said that the indictment was sent to the District Court in Warsaw and covered by it 19 people in total. In addition to the former head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tadeusz R. (deputy head of this ministry in 2018-2019 and president of the Bielmek Dairy Cooperative) was also accused. The accused were also, among others: former general directors of KOWR Piotr S. (2018–2019) and Grzegorz P. (2019–2020).
The prosecutor's office charged Ardanowski (currently an MP of the Free Republicans) with two counts of exceeding his powers and failing to fulfill his duties.
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The acts with which the former minister was accused are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The spokesman for the prosecutor's office announced that four suspects — including one of the former directors of KOWR, Piotr S., and the president of the management board of Eskimos SA, Stanisław S., pleaded guilty and voluntarily submitted to punishment.
The Sejm revoked the immunity of Ardanowski, who is currently a member of the Free Republicans group.
Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski pleads not guilty
The former Minister of Agriculture was charged in March. He then assessed that the allegations against him “are absurd”, undermine trust in him as a public figure and politician, and that they will not stand up in any court.
