In Poland, EU "Covid" grants went to yachts, cars and swingers clubs

The Polish authorities have found out that grants worth more than €280 million allocated by the European Union to combat the consequences of the pandemiccovid-19 , spent on yachts, luxury cars and swingers clubs, among other things, Politico reported.

Poland's Finance Ministry has suspended all further payments under a multi-million-dollar EU programme for hotels, restaurants and cultural venues. Finance Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nalecz said no further funds would be released until each of the roughly 2,400 grants, worth around PLN 1.2 billion (€282.3 million), had been individually verified.

The scandal erupted after the Polish government published interactive online maps of grant recipients, which raised numerous questions.

Donald Tusk's government has assured that "every zloty will be checked", accusing the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration of rushing through the European programme to revive the HoReCa (Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe) sector in Poland.

The Law and Justice party used the scandal to, in turn, accuse Donald Tusk's government of nepotism, embezzlement and disagreements within the coalition.

PiS spokesman Rafael Bohenek said the money was supposed to go toward Poland's recovery from the pandemic and job creation. He said Tusk promised development for everyone, but in reality people see only a "strong unpleasant smell" and a huge debt that everyone will have to pay.

Tusk defended his government, accusing the previous PiS government of blocking the fund for years and forcing the procedure to be implemented in a short time frame.

“One hundred percent of the responsibility for this long-standing mess lies with our predecessors, who blocked the funds and left us very little time to properly use them so that they would reach Polish companies,” he said.

"In order to have time to use the money, the Finance Ministry simplified the procedures, and some people took advantage of this, spending the funds in a way that rightly raises questions among people, if not outright indignation," Tusk added.

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