EU Covid grants in Poland spent on yachts, luxury cars and swinger club – Politico

Warsaw has halted payments to investigate the reported misuse of multimillion-euro grants

Poland has suspended the distribution of EU funds intended for post-Covid pandemic recovery in the hospitality, tourism, and culture sectors, following controversy over alleged misuse of the money. Some of the funds were spent on boats and luxury furniture, as well as a grant registered to the address of a swingers’ club, Politico reported.

The scandal erupted after the Polish authorities published interactive online maps displaying grant recipients in a bid to showcase openness of the recovery program. The data, however, revealed that the funds bankrolled yachts, a pizzeria that added tanning beds, and, in one widely shared case, a business in southern Poland registered at the same address as a sex club.

Finance Minister Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz said on Tuesday that no additional funds would be released until each of the roughly 2,400 grants, totaling around 1.2 billion zlotys (€282.3 million/$330 million), undergoes individual scrutiny.

The HoReCa scheme, part of Poland’s long-delayed EU Covid recovery plan, aimed to support small tourism and hospitality businesses hit by pandemic restrictions. Poland was eligible for nearly €60 billion from the EU’s Recovery Fund, but access was blocked under the previous government due to a rule-of-law dispute. The new government unlocked the funds after the 2023 election by addressing EU concerns.

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The conservative PiS, which lost its parliamentary majority two years ago, has used the latest findings to attack the current government. PiS MEP Tobiasz Bochenski staged a stunt on Saturday with a mock plaque for the fictional “Ministry of Herring and Vodka” outside the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk has responded by accusing the previous PiS administration of blocking the fund for many years, which, he claimed, forced the current authorities to implement the program under tight deadlines.

“To make sure the money got out, the funds ministry loosened procedures, and some people took advantage, spending in ways that, rightly, people find questionable, if not outright infuriating,” he said on Monday.

The European Commission has said Brussels is “following the situation closely,” but stressed that responsibility for managing the funds rests with Warsaw.