Former WOT commander, Head of the General Staff of the Polish Army General Wiesław Kukuła was not a organization to the agreement, nor was the body entitled to carry out the real property acquisition process in Nowy Sącz – the SG informed in a communication in consequence to questions by TVN24.
Impact on Gen. Kukuła
It is simply a property at Wyspiański Street in Nowy Sącz, where erstwhile the bus station was located. According to media reports, the syndicate offered to sale the land to the military at an occasional price. The military did not take advantage of the occasion, but it was bought by tiny Polish businessmen operating in the fuel and construction industries. After a year, i.e. in 2023, businessmen resold the property of the military for an amount 3 times higher than the Syndic offered.
According to TVN24, which informed about the initiation of the investigation on Friday, the military-purchased property in Nowy Sącz could be purchased for more than PLN 5 million, but it was acquired for 3 times the amount. TVN24 stated that the investigation would examine the actions of “the most crucial Polish soldier, Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army Wiesław Kukuła, respective high-ranking officers, as well as erstwhile Deputy Minister of Defence Wojciech Skurkiewicz”. The National taxation Administration (KAS) notified the case to the D.A.
Deputy territory lawyer for Military territory Prosecutor's Office in Krakow, Colonel Wojciech Bigaj confirmed on Friday that the 8th Department of Military territory Prosecutor's Office in Krakow initiated an investigation into the matter. As PAP said, it concerns “a wide scope of perceived irregularities related to the acquisition of real property under the base of the Territorial Defence Army, and it cannot be determined present whether these irregularities have occurred or not”.
Cuckoo Answers
In a message published on platform X, the SG presented General Kukuła's answers to questions asked by TVN24. The editorial asked about the intent of buying from the business group Uwacz the area in Nowy Sącz (the erstwhile bus station) for WOT, since it is not utilized to this day. It was besides asked to explain why the general – as the then head of the WOT – agreed to buy (for over PLN 19 million) from a private entity and not earlier from the bankruptcy admin (for over 5 million). TVN24 besides asked if the general had been informed of the initiation of an investigation into this transaction.
The General Staff indicated in a message that the commander of the WOT requested the acquisition of a property whose destination would be the seat of the sub-units of the Territorial Defence Army.
Today, due to the changes in the geopolitical situation, this infrastructure is besides considered as possible improvement in addition to WOT besides by another military structures
“ We read.
Furthermore, as indicated by the SG, the WOT commander did not express and does not consent to the acquisition of any immovable property due to the fact that he was not and is not entitled to it, but can only request the initiation of a real property acquisition procedure to which WOT will be a user. As noted, this was the case in this case.
Since at that time the Investment Plan for the Construction Armed Forces did not foresee adequate resources to the infrastructure needs of the WOT, the main activity of the WOT commander was to request the acquisition of properties that could be transferred to armed forces in a free manner.
said SG. Since the decision of the fresh Sącz territory Court contained the property in question in the management of the syndik, Gen. Kukuła asked the Court of First Instance to take a position on the anticipation of taking over the property free of charge. On 29 January 2020, as the SG states, the fresh Sącz territory Court responded to the deficiency of specified a possibility, along with a justification.
The staff reports in a message that the anticipation of requesting the acquisition of the property in question appeared again on 17 March 2022, erstwhile a gathering of the manager of the MON Infrastructure Department (DI MON) decided to re-examine the anticipation of acquiring the property. To this end, at the request of the manager of DI MON, a memo dated November 8, 2019, was sent to him from a reconnaissance conducted by a squad of WOT officers, containing a description of the current position of the property and recommending it to get free of charge together with information on the call price specified by the syndicate.
By decision of the manager of DI MON, the department organised a reconnaissance of the facility resulting in a service note accepted on 11 May 2022 by the MON, with a advice to the WOT commander to reconsider the acquisition of the property, and in case of confirmation of the request to get it, to apply for its collection to the authorised authority for payment. The WOT commander re-examined and made a request to the competent authority on 17 June 2022
“ It is written in a statement.
As noted, in 2022 the Investment Plan of the Polish Armed Forces for the years 2021-2035 predicted the financing of investment tasks in Nowy Sącz.
The WOT commander was besides informed that he was not a contracting party. It was besides not a body authorised to carry out the real property acquisition process.
As indicated in the answer to the final question, the head of the SG is not informed of investigations initiated by the Public Prosecutor's Office and remains ready to give an explanation of the case.
The notification to the KAS of the anticipation of committing a crime concerns 3 articles of the Criminal Code: 296, 231, 266. These records successively mention to: economical injury; abuse of powers, failure of a public officer to fulfil his duties and action against the public interest; disclosure of information in connection with the function exercised.
kk/PAP
