PKP Intercity is terminating its sponsorship agreement with the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) with immediate effect, the company announced. It is not the first company to take such a step.
“The sponsorship agreement concluded on August 16, 2023, which was to be valid in the years 2023-2027 between PKP Intercity and the Polish Olympic Committee ceases to be valid as of today. PKP Intercity has terminated this cooperation with immediate effect,” reads the carrier's official statement.
PKP Intercity terminates PKOl sponsorship agreement
The company cited the loss of trust in the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) as the reason for terminating the agreement, resulting from “circumstances significant from the point of view of PKP Intercity”. The press release added that “the failure to provide all the services indicated in the sponsorship agreement for PKP Intercity by PKOl resulted in marketing losses for PKP Intercity”.
The announcement also noted that with the end of the Olympic Games in Paris, controversy surrounding PKOl activists appeared in the media, which “affects the media image of PKP Intercity that has been built over the years”.
On Friday, information appeared about the termination of the sponsorship agreement with the Polish Olympic Committee by Polish Airports, however, as the spokeswoman for the Polish Olympic Committee, Katarzyna Kochaniak-Roman, informed, “the letter does not have any legal consequences, because the agreement itself provides for specific reasons for its termination, and they did not occur.”
Inspections at the Polish Olympic Committee
After the Olympic Games in Paris, the head of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism announced that he would apply to the Supreme Audit Office and the capital city hall to initiate an audit of the finances of the Polish Olympic Committee, including the organization's spending of money from the state budget and state-owned companies, as well as the correctness of decision-making regarding the remuneration of members of the Polish Olympic Committee's board, headed by president Radosław Piesiewicz, who, unlike his predecessors, would not perform this function on a voluntary basis.
The POC is currently undergoing two inspections. The first is being conducted by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, as the legal supervisory authority for the proper functioning of the POC.
“We received questions that we have to answer within two weeks. The deadline is next week,” Kochaniak-Roman explained.
The second one is being carried out by the National Revenue Administration (KAS). “We were given ten days to start sending the documents. We have already sent the first documents. The inspection concerns the scope of the correctness of the calculation of the corporate income tax and the goods and services tax,” she added.
The audit by the Supreme Audit Office of the Polish Olympic Committee, announced by the Minister of Sport and Tourism Sławomir Nitras, has not even started.
In the Paris Games, which ended on August 11, Poland came 42nd in the medal standings, with one gold, four silver and five bronze. This was the worst medal result since the Melbourne Games in 1956, when Poland won nine medals – one gold, four silver and four bronze.
Main image source: Newspix