Telus: I wasn't aware of the sale of the plot in Zabłotnia. What has the current government decided?

Before the plot in Zabłotnia was sold, the then-head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Robert Telus, dismissed the plenipotentiary for social dialogue in the management of State Treasury agricultural properties, said the current head of the ministry, Stefan Krajewski. Telus previously stated that he was unaware of the plot's sale.

On Sunday, former Minister of Agriculture in the PiS government, Robert Telus, wrote on the X platform that he was not aware of the sale of land in Zabłotnia to Dawtona's vice-president, and also stated that the plot is not located in the area of ​​the planned CPK construction.

"I read Robert Telus's statement and I am devastated. If the constitutional minister doesn't know what's going on in his ministry, what his deputy ministers are doing, then what was he doing? Dancing with a fire extinguisher, or are there other matters where someone's business was being handled that are worth looking into?" Krajewski also wrote on X.

He added that on August 22, 2023, Telus, as the then head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, appointed a plenipotentiary for social dialogue in the management of agricultural real estate of the State Treasury.

"What were his tasks? The first and most important was to alert the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, hereinafter referred to as the "Minister," to potential threats related to selected matters concerning the management of agricultural property owned by the State Treasury."

Krajewski reported, attaching a photo of a document from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's official journal, that on November 14, 2023, Telus repealed this order, thereby dismissing the attorney. "Perhaps if it weren't for that, you would have known about the matter? Or maybe you did know, but did everything to keep it from being officially known?" he wrote, addressing Telus.

Earlier on Sunday, Telus wrote in a statement that it had "no knowledge of the sale of plot 87/1 in Zabłotnia." "My signature is not even present in the documents relating to this matter; this matter never reached my desk. Contrary to the initial, false claims, this plot is not located within the planned CPK construction area, but rather over 6 kilometers away," he added.

Last week, Wirtualna Polska reported that in 2023, shortly before the Law and Justice party (PiS) relinquished power, the Ministry of Agriculture approved the sale by KOWR of a 160-hectare plot of land, through which a high-speed rail line from Warsaw to the CPK airport is to run, to Piotr Wielgomas, vice president of the Dawtona company. According to the website, in 2023, but before the transaction, then-Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus visited Dawtona. Ultimately, the sale transaction, worth PLN 22.8 million, was concluded on December 1, 2023, shortly before the PiS party relinquished power.

According to WP, one of the obstacles to acquiring the plot was the fact that it contains a watercourse, a tributary of the Pisia Tuczna River. According to law, running water belongs to the State Treasury and cannot be sold. Dividing the plot and separating the watercourse is a tedious and lengthy administrative process. When Wody Polskie (Polish Waters) reclassified the watercourse as a drainage ditch in 2023, the sale was already possible. The portal emphasizes that Wody Polskie's decision was made two days after Telus's visit to Dawtona.

On Friday, the president of Polish Waters (PGW Wody Polskie) filed a report of possible criminal activity involving a plot of land in Zabłotnia by the institution's former president and former vice president. Polish Waters reported that an internal audit revealed irregularities in decisions made in previous years by PGW Wody Polskie officials regarding the plot of land in Zabłotnia.

As stated in the press release, "in August 2023, the then-president of Polish Waters informed the Ministry of Infrastructure that the 'Dopływ spod Zabłotni' stream is a water feature (a drainage ditch), which resulted in the discontinuation of the administrative proceedings regarding the determination of the shoreline (such proceedings are conducted only in relation to flowing waters)." In the opinion of Polish Waters, the information regarding the drainage ditch provided to the Ministry in 2023 was prepared without a thorough analysis and on-site inspection. Friday's press release emphasized that the Hydrographic Division Map of Poland shows a natural stream at this location.

In a statement on Sunday, Telus assured that "if the land is needed for investments accompanying the CPK, e.g. railway tracks, then, in accordance with the sales agreement, the State Treasury will be able to immediately buy it at the sales price.

The former Minister of Agriculture in the Law and Justice government also commented on reports of his meetings with Dawtona CEO Andrzej Wielgomas. "We met in 2023 due to the crisis in the vegetable and soft fruit market (mainly raspberries). The goal was to work out a plan to buy raspberries from farmers to avoid losses for producers (...), which is why we talked with the Polish agri-food processing company Dawtona," he wrote on X.

According to Wirtualna Polska, Dawtona's company made a series of fruit puree tubes especially for PiS politicians, featuring their images and the party logo. One of the MPs who ordered the tubes as election gadgets in 2023 was reportedly Robert Telus.

According to the website, the invoice for the order contained data discrepancies and the price of the materials was exceptionally low.

Telus also addressed this issue in its post. "I legally purchased 1,500 promotional tubes of mousse, worth PLN 750!!!, from another company that has also been collaborating with Dawtona for a long time. It was a promotional product, cheaper than a store-bought, low-weight promotional item," he wrote.

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