“Dirty political play before the elections.” There is another statement from the former president of RARS regarding Red is Bad

The new statement by Michał Kuczmierowski, regarding the famous controversy surrounding the cooperation between RARS and the owner of the “Red is Bed” brand, begins with a firm denial of the theses presented by the Onet journalist in his text.

“In connection with Jacek Harłukowicz's publication on the Onet website, I declare that the theses and information contained therein are not true and are a false accusation aimed at destroying the last four years of professional and efficient activities of the Government Agency of Strategic Reserves, its employees and myself,” we read on beginning of the message.

There is an ongoing discussion about the RARS and Red is Bad scandal

Let us recall: Onet published on Monday a text that during the PiS government, the agency led by Michał Kuczmierowski concluded contracts with Paweł Szopa, the owner of the “Red is Bad” brand, for the supply of protective equipment and aggregates, which was to result in the siphoning of public money in the amount of over half a billion zlotys.

Kuczmierowski reacted very quickly to this publication, sending an extensive statement to the media in which, at the very beginning of the scandal, he denied – as he put it – “Onet's revelations”. However, this was only the beginning of a public discussion on this topic, which began to grow day by day. Even President Andrzej Duda, who distanced himself from any connection with this matter, spoke out.

“My only contact with Red is Bad is wearing their clothes, which – I must admit – I have in my wardrobe,” said President Andrzej Duda on RMF FM, referring to Onet's publication about this company.

Kuczmierowski answers for the second time

Our editorial office has just received another statement from Michał Kuczmierowski, who consistently denies the allegations presented to him by the Onet journalist, and considers the scandal itself as a “very dirty political game.”

“The attack on RARS, its employees and me during the pre-election week is a very dirty political game aimed at causing a scandal that never existed. We have always acted in accordance with the regulations, ensuring competitive and effective counteracting of crisis situations for the state treasury,” writes the former president of RARS.

In his latest statement, Michał Kuczmierowski describes in several points “facts exposing Onet's manipulation.”

Full text of the statement below (original spelling)

In connection with Jacek Harłukowicz's publication on the Onet website, I declare that the theses and information contained therein are not true and are a false accusation aimed at destroying the last four years of professional and efficient activities of the Government Agency of Strategic Reserves, its employees and mine.

Below are the facts exposing Onet's manipulation:

1. The Fire Department asked the Chancellery of the Prime Minister to supplement the power generators. In the first months of the war, many fire brigade units donated their equipment to Ukraine during the war crisis, so the transfer of equipment was intended to rebuild their civil protection potential.

2. It is not true that I gave away power generators as part of the campaign. RARS, based on the decision of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, provided 127 units of various power to Fire Brigades from several voivodeships in eastern Poland.

3. The decision of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister resulted from the request of the Fire Brigade, which requested such support and was not related to my election campaign. Most of the equipment was received by Fire Brigades selected by the Headquarters from the voivodeships where I did not run for parliament – Podkarpacie, Lublin, Podlasie and Mazovia.

4. The allegation of poor technical quality of the equipment is untrue. It had all the required approvals and certificates. The contract also included start-up service, adjustment and adjustment of the device to the operating standard. Any objections that appeared sporadically were removed on an ongoing basis. The companies also guarantee warranty service. The donated equipment is functional.

5. It is not true that Stopro ran my election campaign and I forwarded this response to Onet. I have no contacts with this company and have not involved this company in any way in my campaign.

6. It is also not true that there were corrupt practices or practices favoring selected suppliers at RARS. All services, including the organization of integration events by event companies, were settled on market principles, and the contractors were selected in accordance with applicable regulations.

7. Contrary to Onet's insinuations, there was no situation of accepting material or property benefits by the Agency's employees and there were no situations of corruption.

First of all, I would like to emphasize that the purchases of power generators by RARS were carried out in three modes – for strategic reserves, from donations from other countries to Ukraine and from a grant from the European Commission. Each of these procedures was carried out in a transparent and competitive manner, and the key parameters for selecting suppliers were purchase prices and delivery dates.

It should also be noted that the purchases concerned almost 7,000 professional generators with various power parameters – up to 30 kVA, between 30 kVA and 100 kVA, and between 100 and 400 kVA. The largest generators had up to 1000 and 2000 kVA.

The photos of units provided by the media and people involved in supporting Ukraine, which are completely different from those ordered by RARS, are intended to introduce elements of disinformation into the circulation of public information.

The attack on RARS, its employees and me during the pre-election week is a very dirty political game aimed at causing a scandal that never existed. We have always acted in accordance with the regulations, ensuring competitive and effective counteracting of crisis situations for the state treasury. Michał Kuczmierowski