Paweł Kukiz is in trouble. His foundation was blocked

Tax execution

The case concerns the grant granted to the Foundation “You Can Hit Poland!” in the beginning of 2023 from the reserve of the general state budget. During the time of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, the Chancellery of the president of the Council of Ministers donated almost PLN 4.3 million to the organization for the implementation of the task "Institute of Direct Democracy". The task was expected to advance the thought of referendums and democratic values, as well as to make an online platform for voting.

According to the Foundation's information, about PLN 2.97 million was allocated to the implementation of the project, or about 69 percent of the received grant. The remainder, amounting to nearly PLN 1.32 million, was returned to the state budget in January 2024.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister's Office was to request the Foundation to reimburse further funds. Following the decision on the case, she was sent to the taxation office for execution, resulting in the blocking of the organisation's account.

Paweł Kukiza's attorney, Michał Kardasz, pointed out that in specified proceedings the decision could be made even before the administrative court examined the case. In addition, the foundation was not able to appeal to a higher authority due to the fact that the first instance decision was issued by an institution with the competence of the minister.

After twice adverse examination of the application, the foundation challenged the decision to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw. The lawyer pointed out that, although this does not mean a formal suspension, the failure of funds could seriously impede its continued operation.

Measures taken and cars

In a conversation with the Fact, Paweł Kukiz spoke about his problems.

The account has been blocked and our foundation funds not coming from the peculiar intent grant of the Prime Minister's Office, and cars have been taken. – said the MP.

According to Kukiz, the blocking of the foundation's account besides included funds from sources another than the grant granted by the NRPM. besides occupied were the cars utilized by the organization to carry gifts. The erstwhile politician argued that, prior to these actions, no talks were carried out with the Foundation, and no attempts were made to clarify the case, and that the actions of the authorities were defined as aimed straight at him and the organisation he directed, despite the deficiency of prior judicial decision.

Kukiz besides claims that the task was carried out as intended. The task prepared educational materials and an online voting platform utilizing blockchain technology. As he reports, although there were no circumstantial irregularities in the implementation of the project, the foundation was obliged to return about a million PLN spent to make the platform. The reason was a tiny number of visits to the service and small interest from the public.

Platform created for nothing

“Fact” besides discussed the case with Mr Witold Zembachinski, who had previously paid attention to granting the Foundation “You Can Hit Poland!” PLN 4.3 million from the budget reserve by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The politician demanded that Paul Kukiz return the funds, claiming that the grant was a form of payment for his support for the PiS government during the parliamentary voting.

This platform for the e-voting Kukiza was created for fundamentally nothing – Zembaczyński assessed. – Such tools were already available on the marketplace for free and could be utilized by anyone interested. Of course, Kukiz cites a noble goal, but the request to return another million zlotys shows that this could be a simple transaction, which any call political corruption.

Zembaczyński pointed out that local governments already successfully usage platforms for electronic voting within civic budgets. He emphasized that these systems use, among others, two-stage login, so in his opinion there was no request to make an additional solution.